Naruto's Wrath
by Baron von Nobody
Summary: A power long buried has been brought to the surface once again, and with the revival of this power comes the revival of an ancient threat. Naruto X-over with Asura's Wrath. No intentional Character Bashing
1. Prologue Naruto's Wrath

**Part 1: Ancient Rebirth**

**Prologue: Naruto's Wrath Surfaces**

A squad of 3 Leaf Shinobi was moving through a forested area that bordered Rain Country, all of them returning from a recent mission. The first Shinobi war was going on, and the group was acting as reconnaissance, gathering info on their enemies near the borders of Kumo, each of them carrying a piece of vital information needed by their village. This group consisted of 3 young men, two of which was Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura. All three were keeping an eye out for enemy forces, thankful they were so close to their home country.

"Sarutobi! How much farther is it from base?" Danzo had asked, looking around nervously, keeping both eyes on everything around him, watching for any sudden out of place movements.

"Not too far… if we keep going at this pace, we should arrive by the end of the day!" Sarutobi stated.

"The sooner we get back, the better… I don't want to hold on to this information any longer than necessary…" Danzo stated, his eyes looking warily every which way.

So distracted was Danzo, that he didn't take notice of a trip wire that his foot caught on, activating a simple pitfall trap, causing him to fall in, while the other two were able to jump to the sides.

"Danzo! Are you alright!" Sarutobi called out to him.

"I'm fine… it seems to be a hastened dug pit… I think I can get out with wall climbing… Keep an eye out for the enemies that may have set this!" Danzo called back, walking up to one of the walls.

"Alright… but be careful… the pit might have some hidden booby traps…" Sarutobi stated, keeping a watchful around them, along with the third member.

As Danzo went to place his foot against the surface of the pit, suddenly, cracks appeared all throughout the pit's interior, revealing the structure of the pit to be unstable. The bottom of the pit cracked apart and fell through, while the wall Danzo attempted to climb collapsed apart, and Danzo fell through the new hole below him, the upper part of the pit collapsing over the hole, covering it up completely.

"Gah! Danzo!" Sarutobi was about to try to perform an earth style Jutsu, but the two Shinobi suddenly found they were surrounded by Kumo ninja.

"Shit, they caught up with us! We got to go!" Said the third member, grabbing Sarutobi's shoulder, causing him to retreat together, Sarutobi looking back over his shoulder toward the newly buried pit.

**|-Naruto's Wrath-|**

Falling down, further down, Danzo just couldn't get a grip on anything around him. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything around him. In a word, he was panicking.

"Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit…" Danzo cursed, the expression of fear on his face. He logically knew that would eventually hit a bottom, and at this speed and height, not even focusing chakra into his legs would help him. In other words, he is going to end up going splat, and he is in a position where there is nothing he can do about it. What irked him the most though was that he never got the chance to surpass Sarutobi yet. He's going to die without even making something great of himself, or even following in his family's footsteps of greatness.

"This Sucks!" Danzo yelled out. He then tried to right himself, feeling the velocity's wind current, and just as he managed to make it so he would land feet first, he suddenly collided with water. The water was deep, thank goodness, which cushioned his fall and allowed him to get off without breaking his bones thanks to instinctively focusing his chakra on his legs.

Still feeling terrified for his life, Danzo hastily swam upwards, following the bubbles of his breath. After a few seconds, he managed to break surface, taking in a huge gulp of air.

"Gasp! I'm alive!" Danzo yelled out, his voice echoing, and he quickly began to stand on the water, using chakra to support himself on the surface. "How far did I fall down…? I got to find a way back up! If only it wasn't so dark!" He yelled out again, his voice laced with tension.

Suddenly, something began to glow in the distance.

**(Play song: In Your Belief, non vocalized version… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

"Huh? What is that?" Danzo began to head toward the light, and when he got close enough, what he saw caused him to gasp in amazement.

It was a city! Or at least the ruins of a city. The very stone of it was glowing, as if responding to his presence. It was a site to behold. Unable to help himself, Danzo wandered into the city, the lights bright enough to light his way, but still a bit dim everywhere else.

'Amazing… incredible… to think there might be a civilization like this down here…' Danzo thought to himself, his eyes wide in wonder. To see such a sight was breathtaking. Everywhere he looked, he saw things that would cause a lesser man to weep at the sheer splendor and awe in its marvel.

But, of course, Danzo was nervous, as he also saw many very life-like statues, all of them depicting either a resident of this city, or what would pass as a soldier or warriors. The fact they all looked so alive was very offsetting for him. Especially since the warrior class looking statues were quite intimidating. Danzo kept walking, initially looking for a way out, but slowly becoming fascinated with this city.

"What kind of people could they have been to be able to make something like this… something that still seems alive, even though it looks ancient looking…? I have to know…" Danzo said with determined look in his eyes.

He headed toward the largest area, what could have been considered a castle if wasn't in such disrepair. He entered inside, seeing more statues that were sprawled about, as if they were in the middle of something, but just suddenly died in their tracks. As he made it into what could have been a throne room, what he saw was incomprehensible. Eight Statues lined into different fighting posses, these particular ones looking far more detailed and imposing than the ones he had seen earlier. Each of these statues practically radiated dominance and power. One in particular statue, which was of a man with six arms, he could feel a lingering rage emanate from it.

Danzo looked around a bit more, and where there should have been a throne chair in the back of the throne room, up a small fight of stairs, the entire wall was covered in a large ancient tapestry, depicting pictures of some kind. He was amazed with the depictions he saw… Cities that floated in the heavens above the clouds… Boats that floated in the skies… what really caught Danzo's attention were the images of beings with what appeared to be unimaginable power. One thing that Danzo had found is that Power is certainly a factor when it comes to one's courage.

Apparently, these ancient beings had advanced far beyond humanly possible. However, the tapestry tells a tale of an evil erupting from the planet itself, and so, waged a grand battle of heaven and earth. He continued to read the fabric, finding out the ancient beings called this energy source, Mantra, and they used it to power everything. However, before he could delve himself too deeply into the fabric, he shook himself from his concentration, and realized he was still trapped underground, and needed a way out.

And so, he left the throne room, promising himself to one day come back, and find out more, and he searched through the caverns, finding out that the farther from any of the emitting lights he got, the dimmer they would become until they went out. He realized that the lights were reacting to him.

He searched around, eventually having to water walk over the underground lake, and after an hour of looking, he found a source of air flow, in which he followed to an air duct. Using his chakra, he scaled the vertical climb, making his way further and further toward the surface, until he found himself in a cave, water trickling down from the mouth of said cave. Exiting out, he found himself outside, and realized it was currently raining. By the look of things, he ended up in Rain country. That means it would take a while for him to get back to Fire country.

**A few days later…**

Danzo stumbled back into the base camp being used for the current war going on. He had gone the whole trip with little stops for short rests and food consumption, but didn't get to sleep at all during his trip. He was too nervous to be on his own on his way back, and couldn't sleep if he wanted to in fear and paranoia of an enemy ambush. Of course, everyone had thought he was dead, so no way anyone was looking for him, not in the world's current state. So to say that Danzo looked like someone had dragged him from the grave would be an understatement… he was ragged exhausted.

"Danzo, your alive!" a voice yelled out, and out came Sarutobi, a slight expression of relief on his face. "What happened to you?"

Danzo would have told the truth, but the fact is, he didn't feel like sharing the information of potentially great power with Sarutobi of all people, just to give him another tally on his score card. No, Danzo decided to withhold this critical information until after the war, and then he would present it to the Hokage, potentially strengthening the village to even greater heights, and putting Danzo a step above Sarutobi. "When the pit collapsed, I fell down into an underground cavern that had a water reservoir that broke my fall. It took me a few days to find my way out of the dark, and few more to get back here." Danzo lied. Yes, he would hold this information until the end of the current war, and Konoha will recover from the war with a great power at their backing. Who knows? Maybe they will make him the next Hokage.

**A few Years Later…**

Danzo was in a pissed mood. Turns out his plan didn't really pan out so well back then, thanks in part to the war, and to Sarutobi. Oh yes, he blamed Sarutobi for outdoing him again. What happened was, it was another recon mission with a much larger squad than last time, and they were caught and being pursued by Kumo Shinobi. In order to make it out of the situation, one of them would have had to act as a decoy, which was pretty much a suicide maneuver in this case. Danzo was planning to volunteer, thinking back on the bravery of his clan, but then he ended up thinking back to his discovery months prior, and thought about if he died, no one in Konoha would get the chance to know of this potential treasure grove of power. Because of this, he ended up hesitating in his decision, which was plenty of time for his rival, Sarutobi, to volunteer instead. This in turn caused Tobirama, the current Hokage, to volunteer himself for decoy, and had delegated Sarutobi to become the Third Hokage.

Because of that, there was no way in hell Danzo was going to hand power this potentially great to his rival. No, he would save this power solely for Konoha itself, and leave Sarutobi out of the knowhow. However, nothing was ever going to be made or get done for Konoha if Danzo didn't take any action with this secret. If he was to leave it out there, the worst case scenario would be for it to fall into the hands of another Shinobi village. No, Danzo would rather see this power be buried and destroyed then to let any potential enemy be granted this power. So, Danzo made a choice.

Taking his loyal group of Root Anbu agents that he recently formed covertly out toward Rain Country, and he had them carry enough equipment for inconspicuous transport back to Konoha. It took a time span of years, but he managed for the Root Anbu to covertly transport as much as they could carry and find of artifacts from the underground ruins back to Konoha.

And now, he and his Anbu were in Rain Country, using the cave and air shaft as the primary entrance into the caverns. Once underground, the water walked toward the ruins, and as they approached the ruins, the lights of the ancient city grew brighter this time, reacting not just to Danzo, but to his men as well, which almost caused his men to stare in awe.

"Hmm… interesting… " Danzo mused to himself. "Grab anything you can find, and make sure you handle it with care! I want these relics in as close to the same condition as we found it when we get back to Konoha!" He ordered his men, who saluted in affirmation.

Danzo continued forward, toward the great the great palace of this city. He eventually entered into the great throne room, the eight statues in the same position they were in before.

"Impressive… After all this time and they still emit the same presence I felt back then." Danzo mused in slight respect and revere. "I want these statues personally brought back to be studied!" Danzo then moved toward the familiar tapestry. As he continued to read it, he had found that the entire right side of the tapestry was faded and had lost all of its information. Whatever clues to what happened to this civilization were as good as lost.

"No matter… their loss shall now become Konoha's gain… Have the Tapestry transported as well!" Danzo ordered.

**A few more years later…**

Over the years, Danzo had had scientist underlings of his research and study all the relics they gathered up over time, trying to find any trace of the energy, Mantra, and any sign of how to recreate it and/or how to use it. While the tapestry provided clues to what it could be used for, it didn't provide the information for how to obtain it. It wasn't until later that they had found that Mantra exists within humans, mainly within. It was an entity all itself… one could even say it exists within a human's soul, and help make up their very being. Problem is, unlike chakra, humans in today's age couldn't access Mantra on the same scale. It wasn't until the scientist had begun to study the statues themselves did they find out the statues were formerly alive, and despite them being in a dead like state, their bodies could continue to use Mantra. His scientist came to realize that in order for a human to manipulate Mantra, they needed to be physically modified in a way that would allow it.

Under Danzo's order, the scientists were able to extract the Mantra from the 8 statues, and so, animal and human testing had been performed. Sadly to say, out of the humans or animals that had been tested on, 25% of the animals survived, while all of the human test subjects had perished. It wasn't until later; researchers had discovered that the bodies of the humans and animals had rejected the Mantra due to their chakra network, mainly fully developed chakra network, which caused a sort of expelling of the Mantra from the body. It was then; Danzo had come to realize that they would need younger humans, ones whose chakra network hasn't fully developed, to fully integrate Mantra into their system. Sadly, Root had yet to obtain any young operatives, a problem that Danzo plans on rectifying in the future, and so, this forced the Root Anbu to discretely find children who would be perfect candidates for the Mantra integration, for in the event the process ends up killing them and no one would miss them, and someone who would be easy to manipulate into working under him.

Danzo had given the order to have the latest generation of children discretely be the guinea pigs, taking great care to select the right ones. Danzo had specifically targeted mainly tried to aim for children that weren't part of any clans, however, in the event the children would suddenly dying off or showing signs of great power, he had ordered a select few of the clan's children to be part of the experiment, mostly aiming for members of the clans that didn't carry heavy leeway in the village. When the procedure was done, none of the children had suffered from any rejection of the Mantra; however, there also appeared no sign of it manifesting either. Danzo decided to be patient, and wait to see if anything happened over time.

"I have waited a long time to bring this power to Konoha's forces… I can wait a little longer…" Danzo stated, overlooking some files of the selected children, one of them being a young girl with fiery red hair with the name, Kushina Uzumaki.

**Many years+ 13 years after the Kyuubi assault…**

**Chunin Exams, the Forest of Death**

Team 7, which consists of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha, were in the middle of a fight for their lives against a Snake using Kuso Kunoichi, and were losing badly. First, Naruto got blown away by a blast of air, and then he got eaten by a giant snake. Sasuke then had to fight like a frantically frightened mouse, while Sakura was literately useless during the entire affair. Naruto was then able to escape the snake, backpedal to the group, and had fought on par with the Kuso Kunoichi, or at least on par with her current level of strength, by using the chakra of a Nine Tailed Fox sealed within his gut. However, the snake user's strength turned out to be incredibly unfathomable, as she managed to restrain Naruto, and to place a Five Pronged Seal on his stomach, cutting his power off from the Kyuubi.

Now, Naruto was hanging by the neck, held in place by his current enemy's super long tongue, on the brink of passing out. Kuso Ninja tossed Naruto with but a flick, and Naruto began to fall from a height that would most likely kill him. As he fell, his consciousness was slipping, so there was no way for him to catch himself from his impending doom.

'Damn it… even with the fox's chakra… it wasn't enough…' Naruto berated himself in his head. 'I can barely think straight… whatever she did; I won't be awake for long… If only I had more power… something just to get this ninja to back off...'

'_**You're not very bright, are you?' **_A voice spoke, catching Naruto's attention. Suddenly, Naruto's body stopped in midair, and time seemed to come to a still.

"Huh? Who's there?" Naruto called out.

**(Play song: The Golden Spider … from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

'_**After using all that power… and you still couldn't defeat that snake… you really are a bit of an idiot…'**_

Naruto looked around, trying to find the voice, when suddenly, a spider made of solid gold descended down in front of him, a thin line of gold holding it up.

'_**Of course… intelligence doesn't always equal one's strength… just their competence.'**_ The spider spoke, its mandibles moving while it spoke. _**'I guess your strength is really determined by overcoming your opponent with brute force... I guess everyone has their own methods of how they handle a fight…'**_

"Who… who are you? And where do you get off calling me an idiot!" Naruto asked with a yell, upset this spider had the nerve of insulting him.

'_**Well… at least you're smart enough to ask good questions… problem is, that isn't the right question…' **_The spider stated. _**'The right question would have been… who you are?'**_ It said, referring to Naruto this time.

Naruto then got himself ready to answer. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm going to…"

'_**The question was rhetorical… I know who you are…'**_ The spider interrupted. _**'Naruto Uzumaki… Jinchuuriki of the 9 tailed fox… village pariah… dead last of the Shinobi academy… and the most unpredictable, knuckled headed Ninja of Team 7 who goes around claiming he is going to be Hokage… and also is a huge fan of Ramen noodles, mainly from the Ichiraku Noodle shop, and always goes around saying, "Believe It!" all the time… Am I right?'**_

Naruto was caught off guard. "How… how did you know that?" He asked.

'_**Another good question… but again, not the right one… what you should be asking is… "How am I going to be able help protect my friends from a psycho snake woman without the help of that damn fox's chakra?" That one would be a lot more helpful…' **_

Naruto thought about what the spider had said. He made a good point. However, at the same time, there was something off about this spider. Though Naruto may have been known to be awfully gullible, sans his experience with Mizuki, this spider just practically screamed he had a secondary agenda, something that even Naruto could pick up on. However, since things were looking grim for him and his teammates, Naruto decided to throw caution to the wind, and do what he always did… went with his gut.

"Alright… how?" Naruto asked.

'_**Good… you're willing to listen… to answer your question… you already have what is needed… you just have to let it out…' **_The spider responded.

"Already have it? But I already used the fox's chakra, and it wasn't enough… now I can't even feel it anymore…" Naruto argued.

'_**I wasn't talking about the fox… you, my boy, have a great rage inside of you… yet you keep it bottled up…'**_ The spider commented.

"No I don't! I always cuss at Sasuke for being an ass… and, if the Kyuubi is anything to go by; I think I release a healthy amount of anger when needed…" Naruto argued back.

'_**Again, you are insinuating I am talking about your false prideful anger… no, I am talking about your real rage... the one you always keep bottled up…'**_ At this, the spider began to move slowly around Naruto's head. _**'Your rage with the Fourth for sealing a giant demon in your gut… your rage toward the Third for not being clear about your real parents… your rage toward the villagers for always scorning you, or ignoring you, and your frustration to your own ignorance as to why… your rage toward the children of the academy for being even worst then their parents, and always ostracizing you… your rage towards Mizuki for betraying your trust… but I think the most prominent rage you feel is toward your own teammates…'**_

At this, Naruto's attention was caught, and he couldn't help but slightly growl from hearing these harsh truths. "Shut up…" Naruto growled out quietly.

'_**Your so called "Sensei" who is supposed to be training you to be a stronger Shinobi, yet the only lessons he has truly taught you is how to walk up at a vertical angle, and about teamwork…'**_

"Shut up…" Naruto whispered harshly, a little louder than last time.

'_**Then there is your rival and so called friend… Ha! If you were to ask him anything about you, would he be able to answer in a positive way? He is so self absorbed in his own path of vengeance, he is oblivious to everything and everyone around him…'**_

"Shut up…" Naruto angrily said, now more clearly than before.

'_**And finally, your so called "Love interest…" she will never love you… no matter what you do, she will always only have eyes for the Uchiha and for him alone…'**_

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled out, anger boiling over, red energy beginning to flare from his body. Naruto swung his hand at the spider, only for it to vanish in a blink of an eye.

'_**Yes… that's it… let your anger out… show them all… let everyone know and cower before Your Wrath!'**_ The spider goaded.

"GAAAHHH!" Naruto roared. The red energy he was feeling was like the fox's, only it was different. While the fox's chakra used his anger to manipulate him, this energy was practically feeding on his anger, and the angrier he was getting, the more powerful he was starting to feel. Of course, Naruto was not in a state to comprehend that, as his thoughts were clouded in a raging haze. All he could focus on now were on how pissed he is, and he was focusing that anger toward the Snake user. "GRRR!" Naruto growled, as suddenly, the red energy engulfed his arms, shredding the sleeves of his orange jumpsuit, leaving his arms bare. Suddenly, a silver armor coated his arms up to his elbows, making it look as if his very flesh turned to silver. What remained of his orange jacket then suddenly tore open, showing his black shirt he always wore underneath.

Time then began to kick back in, and Naruto found himself still falling toward the ground. He quickly adjusted his weight, and managed to position his feet toward the tree. He then jumped from the tree, splinters exploding from the tree where he jumped, heading straight for the snake user, his eyes now a pure glowing white. **"RAAAGH!"**

**|-Naruto's Wrath-|**

So far, things had been going according to Orochimaru's plans. He was able to sneak into Konoha, steal the face and identity of a Kuso Kunoichi, enter into the exams, and locate Sasuke Uchiha's team. The fact that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was part of said team was a bit of a bit of a nuisance, but all Orochimaru had to do was put the 5 pronged seal on the brat, and the kid was out of the way. Now he can truly test Sasuke's skills, and apply the Curse mark seal on him before any Konoha Shinobi figure out he is here, and decide to interfere.

"**RAAAGH!"**

Suddenly, Orochimaru caught sight of Naruto jumping right toward him, his arms covered in a silver substance, and his eyes a glowing white. Not to mention that Naruto was really moving fast toward Orochimaru, like a thrown kunai. Naruto threw a punch toward Orochimaru, the snake Sanin moving his head to the side. Orochimaru felt a huge gust of air from that punch, letting him know that if Naruto managed to hit him with that punch, he would be severely injured. Naruto suddenly followed up with another punch, which Orochimaru also sidestepped, however, Naruto's other hand came just as quickly, Orochimaru having to dodge this punch. Naruto then suddenly kicked out with his leg, Orochimaru having to avoid that attack, and then this was followed by another punch for his stomach this time, Orochimaru having to dodge again. Orochimaru began to notice that Naruto's attacks were kicking up speed, and giving him less opportunity to counter attack.

Sasuke and Sakura were watching Naruto from the same spot as before, and both looked in awe and shock.

'Is… is that really Naruto?' Sakura thought to herself.

'He looked like he was on his last leg… where did he get such a boost in power?' Sasuke thought to himself.

'He should have passed out by now… how did the brat do it? I cut off his supply from the Kyuubi… it must be a different source… but from where?' Orochimaru thought to himself.

Naruto suddenly backed up, as if focusing, and suddenly, his fist came flying out in a rapid succession, all of them coming so close to hitting Orochimaru, that he was forced to switch with a log at the last second, Naruto's fist colliding with both the log, and the trees behind it, each one gaining a gaping hole that tittered them on the brink of collapsing. Naruto turned to see that Orochimaru had avoided his attack, and thinking quickly, he grabbed the top part of the tree that had been broken, and ripped it all the way off of its remains, amazingly lifting the tree above his head.

Everyone's expression, even Orochimaru's, were dumbfounded by how physically strong Naruto had become. With a growl, Naruto hoisted the tree up, and swung it down toward Orochimaru, but also, unintentionally, toward his own teammates.

"Shit! Sakura, Move!" Sasuke yelled, as he grabbed Sakura, and jumped away. Orochimaru also jumped away, avoiding the tree coming down on top of him.

"You idiot! Watch where you're aiming, you almost hit us!" Sasuke yelled out.

"**GAARRR!"** Naruto ignored Sasuke outburst, completely enthralled in the battle, and was currently oblivious to everything around him except for Orochimaru. He then lifted the tree above his head again, and this time, began to twirl it around as if it were a pole, knocking the top of other trees off.

"What has gotten into him?" Sakura asked as she and Sasuke were jumping to lower branches out of the radius of Naruto's twirling tree.

"He's completely gone berserk!" Sasuke commented.

Naruto then laid eyes on Orochimaru, who managed to jump on to a higher part of the trees, and with a great roar, Naruto threw the tree toward Orochimaru, who easily slithered past the tree. Naruto was about to follow up, when suddenly, the red energy that had been permeating his body suddenly cut off. The moment it did, Naruto's muscles instantly eased up, his expression becoming blank, and then Naruto began to fall backwards, falling off the tree he had torn apart. Sakura saw him falling, and quickly reacted by tossing a kunai toward him, catch his open jacket before he could fall any further.

"Well… that was certainly unexpected…" The disguised Orochimaru commented. "But now that the interruption is out of the way, let us pick up where we left off."

Sasuke then got himself ready to fight this Kuso Kunoichi, unaware that it is actually the traitor, Orochimaru, behind the mask of flesh. Sasuke would put up a valiant effort, and fight with all he has got, but unfortunately, he will have failed against the overwhelmingly strong opponent, who will then place a curse on him, causing him to pass out and undergo a horrible transformation. As for Naruto, you will have to wait and see…

**To Be Continued…**

**On the next Naruto's Wrath:**

Naruto and Sasuke are out cold, and Sakura is on her own facing an overwhelming force. Meanwhile, Sasuke faces his own inner turmoil that threatens to shatter all that he is and ever will be. Will he overcome it, or will the flames of hatred and desire consume him, body and soul?

**Next time: The Melancholy of Sasuke Uchiha**

**Nobody: To be honest, I was expecting there to be at least 1 Asura's Wrath Fic on FanFic... however, I have yet to see any... so, I will take my chances, and try for one myself...**

**Also, I will say, Asura's Wrath is a game worth playing, and not passing up... I definitely suggest it for those who are fan of Action and epic scenes... **

**Next, I challenge anyone to try and make their own Fic or X-over with Asura's Wrath... Just let me know if you do...**

**I hope all of you enjoyed this, and look forward to the next chapter... and don't worry, I haven't given up on any of my other fics... just letting the inspiration come to me...**

**Signed,**

**Mr. Nobody**


	2. The Melancholy of Sasuke Uchiha

**Nobody: Well, I am going to say, I am impressed with how many people actually came to like this fic right on the first day I posted it... I've never seen so many reviews in one day... and so, I decided to strike the iron while it was hot... hope you guy's enjoy this next chapter...**

**Chapter 1: The Melancholy of Sasuke Uchiha**

Team 7 was hiding out underneath a hollowed tree, Sakura being the only one currently still conscious. After Orochimaru had left, it took a lot of work for Sakura to not only drag Sasuke's body, but to also get Naruto down, and drag him as well. Sasuke and Naruto were both out cold, Sasuke with a slight fever, and Naruto groaning in pain every now and again, his hand always moving toward his stomach.

It was just Sakura now to look after them, having to use every book smarts she had to secure and protect them from any hostiles that would attempt to attack them. Inside, though, she knew she and her team were screwed. All she had going for her were book smarts on Shinobi Theory, which thanks to the last mission, and recent events, she knew could only help if she had a body conditioned to act on that knowledge. She was able to set up some basic traps that could provide a decent defense, however, she also put them up quite hastily, making them either not very well hidden, or could be easy to out maneuver. In fact, she was mainly just keeping watch, making sure no one attacked, and praying to Kami that no one would attack her team, and that her teammates would wake up soon.

She stayed alert at all times, keeping her weary eyes open for any intruders. After seeing Naruto in action, she came to realize that she was the weakest link in their team. Sasuke had the Sharingan and was a skilled ninja, and Naruto just recently displayed the ability to chuck a large tree over his head, and could throw devastating punches and blows, while all Sakura could do was watch, throw a kunai when Naruto was falling, and drag Naruto and Sasuke away from the battle field. She now knew she didn't disserve to have graduated from the academy when she did. The academy was indeed flawed as it mostly focused on Shinobi theory, but barely put any of it into practice. If Sakura had spent more time training, and less time focusing on wooing Sasuke, she wouldn't have had to rely on her teammates all the time. And now, her teammates have to rely on her, and she wasn't sure she can come through for them.

Sakura snapped out of her self-loathing, and decided to check on both Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto was probably suffering from exhaustion, and the pain to his stomach was probably being caused by that seal that was placed on him, as it did look pretty painful. Sasuke wasn't faring any better either. His fever just kept getting worse, and he looked like he was suffering from a nightmare. Sakura had never seen either of her teammates look so vulnerable before. It was tearing her up to be so utterly useless that her team had to push to their limits to make up for her weakness.

After putting a cloth on Sasuke's head, and covering him and Naruto up in their own blankets, she went back to her guard duty. Unfortunately, her prayer of no enemies attacking will go unanswered, for in the Forest of Death, three predators were fast approaching.

**In Sasuke's mind…**

Darkness… all around Sasuke, he was floating in darkness. What's more, his body felt nothing but cold.

Suddenly, something appeared within the empty void. It was a set of Sharingan eyes, and not just any eyes, no, these eyes were quite familiar. These were the eyes that Sasuke had come to have such hatred and contempt for. The eyes of his brother, Itachi Uchiha.

"You are pathetic Sasuke… you're not even worth killing." The eyes spoke, speaking in Itachi's voice. "Cling to your worthless life, and become stronger through your hatred. Hate me with your entire being. Cut all ties, and let your anger consume you. Only then, will you be worthy to be killed by my hands."

Then, the Sharingan eyes vanished, fading into the abysmal blackness. Sasuke couldn't help but feel angered by that comment, and images of the massacre played in his mind, only enforcing that anger he felt. Then suddenly, a new figured appeared in the dark. This one was a child, and upon closer inspection, Sasuke found it was a younger him, from when the massacre occurred.

"Why did they have to die? Why did brother have to take them? I need to kill the one who slaughtered them… you need to kill…" The young man then reached up to his face, and what looked like he was wiping his eyes, reveals he was pulling the skin off, revealing a pale white skin with purple eyeliner, and a piercing yellow eye. "If only I was stronger…" the boy said. "**If only we were stronger…**" The child's voice had suddenly blended with the voice of another, the voice of Orochimaru mixed in.

"_**The snake sure likes to hear himself talk… doesn't he?"**_ a voice said, catching Sasuke's attention. His eyes began to scan around, looking for the owner of the voice.

Suddenly, the image of the younger Sasuke shattered apart, along with the abysmal world. What it revealed was an area with thundering clouds, pillars with human faces on them, and a dark mist covering the ground below. Sasuke looked around, and found himself floating in midair, hovering above this world.

**(Play song: The Golden Spider … from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

"Where… am I?" Sasuke asked to no one in particular.

"_**You're in Naraka… or at least, you're teetering on the edge of it…"**_ Sasuke looked up, and he spotted a spider made of pure gold hanging by a golden thread. _**"Of course, that happens sometimes when someone tries to shove a portion of their power into you… I estimate you have a 1 in 10 chance that you'll survive…"**_

"W-Who are you?" Sasuke asked.

"_**Not important… Just so you know… if you accept this power, you'll be knocking on death's door… and even if you do survive, you'll be bound to a serpent that will control your fate for the rest of your miserable life…"**_

"If that is the case… then I'll accept it… whatever it takes to achieve the power I need to kill him…" Sasuke stated with a huge scowl.

"_**So very impatient… your even willing to take power from someone willing to charge you so much even though you don't really need it… the power you really want is much easier for you to grasp… after all… it is a part of you…"**_

"What are you talking about? What power? Are you talking about the Sharingan?" Sasuke inquired.

"_**Well, that is a part of you, or more accurately, your clan… however, I am referring to something much more…" **_As the spider said this, it spun around on its web, and spread its legs open, as if to emphasize its point. _**"Unfortunately, there is something keeping you from obtaining this great power…"**_

"Oh yeah… and what's that?" Sasuke asked, now feeling skeptical

"_**You my boy… you're the reason you cannot access this power…"**_

"And how do I resolve that?" Sasuke asked, now starting to feel a bit annoyed.

"_**Tell me boy… among the members who died… did you love any of them?" **_

"What's that got to do with anything?" Sasuke asked.

Suddenly, the world around Sasuke and the spider faded, and soon, they were in what looked like a place in Konoha. Upon further inspection, Sasuke realized it was the Uchiha clan's estate compound, or more accurately, his manor.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke!" a female voice rang out. Sasuke turned in the direction to find a younger him standing in front of his deceased mother. "Look at you, you have some burns cheek."

"I'm fine mom…" The younger Sasuke grumbled, not appreciating this kind of attention. "I've just been practicing my Jutsu…"

Sasuke's mother, after applying some ointment for burns, placed a bandage on his cheek, and then gave him a motherly kiss on the bandage. "There you go… all better now…"

"Mom! You're embarrassing me…" Young Sasuke grumbled, a big blush appearing on his face.

"_**Such a touching site… wouldn't you agree?"**_ the spider stated.

"What is the point in showing me this?" Sasuke asked, even more annoyed, with a strain of sorrow mixed in.

"_**The thing that is holding you back… is the fact that you refuse to remember them… any of them… or even take a moment to let your brother's betrayal truly hurt, instead, you severed the bond with him completely…"**_

"I don't have time for that… I need to avenge them! I need to bring my brother to justice! And I can't do that if I let petty emotions, or painful memories stand in my way…"

"_**Trying to bottle up those 'Petty' emotions and painful memories is what is keeping your untapped power locked away… you are denying a part of yourself…" **_The image suddenly faded, and it then switched to views again, showing a younger Sasuke being carried by his older brother Itachi. Upon closer inspection, one could actually see the two smiling. It was a sight that was really heartfelt and touching.

**(Play song: Memories… by Within Temptations)**

"_**Let your heart feel the pain, let it feel unimaginable sorrow… there is nothing wrong with remembering the happier times… let it be fuel for your inner fire… embrace it, use it…"**_ The image then changed again, this time showing the training grounds with the memorial stone, and showing a more current Sasuke, training with his teammates of team 7. _**"Embrace newer bonds, and let the fact they will eventually perish tear into your soul, and rebuild the wall of your heart again… let that be the inspiration for your drive… and make it into a sword that will cut down any enemy that brings you this injustice…"**_

The image faded again, and this time, the two had returned to Naraka.

"_**So? What is your choice? Are you going to let fate pan out and continue to be its puppet? Or are you going to do something about it…? Are you going to take this power, make it your own, and embrace that which you deny?" **_The spider asked.

Sasuke didn't respond right away. The spider moved toward his face, and saw a slight tear trying to form at the edge of his eye.

"This power… will it really give me the strength I need?" Sasuke asked in a near whisper.

"_**That and more…all you have to do, is to accept your melancholy and use it for power!"**_

A single tear finally fell, the dam breaking at last, revealing the pain and suffering bottled up for years in exchange for rage and hatred all in that single drop. "THEN I ACCEPT! I WILL BEAR THIS PAIN AND USE IT TO BRING ITACHI TO JUSTICE!"

Suddenly, a dark blue energy erupted from Sasuke's body, white markings appearing on his flesh.

"_**Yes Sasuke… embrace it, let it all out! And show everyone your sorrow!"**_

**|-Melancholy of Sasuke Uchiha-|**

Sakura had fought with her all, which wasn't much to begin with. Three Shinobi hailing from the Village hidden in the Sound had made an attempt on Sasuke's life, and were planning on killing his entire team as well. They were not interested in obtaining a scroll for the exam, but interested in taking Sasuke's life. The only thing that stood between them and carrying through their mission was Sakura, and she wasn't a very good defense, as she was easily knocked around by the overwhelming force. Fortunately, a newcomer had come in the form of Rock Lee, the young man who had professed his love to Sakura, and promised he would protect her with all the passionate fires of youth in his body. Unfortunately, he was caught off guard with one of the Sound Shinobi's gauntlet, which caused him to become disoriented enough to be ambushed and knocked out. Had Lee known what he was up against, he would have been less careless, and would have flattened the three Shinobi with ease.

Sakura tried, and failed, at fighting the three at her hardest, but resulted in getting her hair cut off, and her face getting pounded in. It was again fortunate that her former best friend, Ino, and her team came in when they did. The three managed to put up a good fight, but it was technically a near stalemate, as Choji's **Human Boulder** was able to match against the force gale winds of Zaku's **Slicing Sound Wave**, and Shikamaru and Ino were able to restrain Dosu and Kin by using their own techniques. However, all the Sound Ninja needed were time, as all they had to do was wait until their new Konoha opponents managed to run out of Chakra, which thanks to the little reserves the three had, wasn't going to take long.

And then, when it seemed like Ino's team might not make it, the rest of Lee's team made their appearance, ready to help out their fellow Konoha comrades. However, it was soon shown their entrance was not needed as suddenly, from the tree where Sasuke and Naruto were out cold, a burst of blazing dark blue energy erupted, causing Shikamaru to order his team to retreat back to the bushes.

At the epicenter of the blazing dark blue inferno was the slowly raising form of Sasuke. When he was fully standing up, suddenly, on his left shoulder close to where his neck and shoulder had met, a black purple substance pulsed outward, and with a screeching hiss, it evaporated from Sasuke's shoulder.

"What in the world is this?" Dosu questioned a nervous fear in his visible eye.

"So the Uchiha is awake now, eh? Now I can kill him in a single blow!" Zaku yelled out, aiming his hands toward the tree Sasuke and Naruto were at. "**Slicing Sound Wave!**" A torrent of decapitating air sped towards the hollow tree Team 7 was using for their reprieve, and when it collided, it kicked up a cloud of dust, and managed to tear the tree to shreds, causing the upper half of it to collapsed over the remains.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura yelled out, worried for her two teammates.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be… almost disappointing!" Zaku boasted.

"**I just woke up from a nightmare, so I am not in a very good mood right now…**" A voice spoke from behind Sakura's kneeling form.

Everyone turned their attention behind Sakura, for standing right there was Sasuke, with Naruto laying on the ground behind him. However, Sasuke looked a bit different.

**(Play song: Wind… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

Sasuke was now standing with his arms crossed; however, his hands and wrists were covered in a silver material gauntlet, the underside of his palms uncovered. He had white markings on his body, one of which looked like a tear falling from the edge of the eye, and another a white ring on his forehead. The most noticeable feature about Sasuke, though, was a silver mask that covered a fourth of his face, mainly the upper right area around his eye, which looked partially broken and incomplete.

"**Sakura? What happened to you? Who did this?**" Sasuke asked in a monotone, but a slight sound of genuine concern lacing his voice. He looked around and caught sight of the 3 Sound Shinobi, and he could sense their killing intent. "**Never mind… I think I can figure it out…**"He unfolded his arms, and began casually walk forward. When he was about to pass Sakura, he placed his hand on her shoulder, and without looking at her, he spoke. "**You did fine Sakura… now look after the idiot… I'll take it from here…**" He then continued his slow trek toward the three ninja, one of which was only now coming to, and then got into a fighting stance.

"Pfft… you think you can take all three of us on hotshot? You're even stupider than I gave you credit for!" Zaku commented.

"Ugh, my head… what I miss?" Kin said, her hand slightly rubbing her head.

"Nothing much really… we're about to see what the Uchiha is fully capable of…" Dosu remarked. 'Strange… I thought for sure he activated the curse mark… was that pink haired girl bluffing? No, she wouldn't have any knowledge of the Curse mark… so what is this power?' Dosu thought to himself

"**I can finally see… see clearer than I did before… power has many forms… though this power… is stronger than yours… let me show you… the power of Sorrow…**" Sasuke stated, moving his left hand to remove the broken mask on his face, and letting it fall to the ground. The 3 Sound Ninja prepared their respective weapons for whatever the Uchiha was going to pull.

**(Play song: Fang… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

Suddenly, Sasuke vanished from sight. Dosu, Zaku, and Kin all three began to look around for him, unable to find any trace of him.

"**Where are you looking?**" the voice of Sasuke said, in between the three. In a swift movement, Sasuke managed to elbow Zaku in the face, slam his fist into Kin's stomach, and managed to kick Dosu in chest, sending all three flying in separate directions.

The three Shinobi quickly regained their senses, and flipped in midair, allowing them to upright themselves before hitting the ground. Dosu looked up, only to find Sasuke right in front of him.

In desperation, Dosu swung his arm out, only for Sasuke to catch it in his right hand. Dosu then eye smiled, and struck his **Melody Arm**, a slight ding resonating, and Sasuke suddenly winced as his right ear began to bleed.

"Got you! Your mine!" Dosu yelled, as he pulled his arm back, and aimed to strike Sasuke directly with the same attack, only on a more destructive scale.

Suddenly, Sasuke caught the hand Dosu was using, and smoothly twisted it at an odd angle, causing Dosu to yell in pain.

"**I couldn't hear what you said, my ears are ringing…**" Sasuke stated, and then using his elbow and knee, he crushed Dosu's right melody arm in between. This caused Dosu to yell out in more pain as it wasn't just the melody arm that cracked, but also a few of the his arm's bones as well.

"**Slicing Sound Wave**!" Zaku yelled out. Dosu looked up in time, and managed to free his broken arm from Sasuke's grip, and then jumped back before the air wave hit.

Sasuke could have been able to dodge the attack, unfortunately, his ears were still ringing, making him deaf to sounds around him, and so, he didn't notice the oncoming attack until Dosu moved. When Sasuke saw the wave, all he could do was put his arms up, and brace for the impact. He was struck with the attack, but instead of being blown back, Sasuke stood his ground, his legs entrenching into the ground, and his arms staving off the attack. Instead of pondering this, Sasuke shifted his fingers, and flattened them all out, his hands wide open. With a concussive force, Sasuke brought his hands down, literally slicing the Sound Wave in half, both sides hitting the area behind him.

"What in the…?" Zaku yelled out. Suddenly, Sasuke jumped into the air, and his body began to glow, the white markings shining, and the dark blue energy flaring up again. Then, in midair, Sasuke was able to charge toward Zaku, his body aiming to deliver a flying kick with a spin on the sound Shinobi. Zaku shot off another **Slicing Sound Wave**, but Sasuke not only met the wind blast head on with his kick, but also managed to disperse it, and continued flying uninterrupted, and struck Zaku right in the face, sending the Sound Shinobi flying, twirling in the air head over heels, and eventually hitting flat up against a tree, his back embedding itself into the bark.

Sasuke smoothly landed on the ground, the hearing in his ears beginning to come back. Sasuke then heard something, and easily sidestepped some Senbon with bells at the end of them. He looked up to see Kin with another full set of Senbon, ready to be launched again. He took a look at her left arm, and noticed some faint traces of pink hair on her sleeve.

'**So… she's the one who pulled out Sakura's hair…**' Sasuke mused to himself.

Kin launched another dozen Senbon toward Sasuke, not letting up, refilling her hands with the needles after throwing them. Sasuke could see them moving at a snail's pace.

'**This power is amazing… I don't even need my Sharingan to see them coming… and now, I have a body that can react with my sight!**' Sasuke then took his hands, using the metal part of his new gauntlets, he then began to rapidly deflect each and every Senbon, his hands a nearly a blur, many Senbon falling to the ground in front of him at his feet.

Dosu watched in horror at the power Sasuke was displaying. 'This is more than what we're capable of. He is too strong! Did Orochimaru know of this power? Did he send us to assassinate our executioner? Whatever this is, we are out of our league…'Dosu frantically thought to himself.

Sakura watched in amazement of Sasuke's performance. 'Sasuke never showed that kind of power before… He's amazing!' She then began to pout. 'And me… I'm absolutely worthless… Sasuke, Lee, even Naruto are leagues stronger than me… and Ino and her team were even able to put up a much better fight than me… I'm no good to my own team if I can't stand with them…'

Shikamaru and his team stared at the sight they were seeing. "Sigh… troublesome… makes me glad he's on our side…" Shikamaru stated.

"That's Sasuke for you… he's cool and amazing!" Ino swooned. Meanwhile, Choji had opened a bag of chips, and just began to munch, not really saying much in regards to the fight.

Neji and Tenten watched intently on the fight, Tenten's eyes widening in surprise. "Wow… the rookie of this year is really showing his stuff…" Tenten commented.

"Hmph…" Neji remarked.

Sasuke kept deflecting the Senbon, and even began to walk forward while deflecting, Kin beginning to panic as she was starting to run out. Kin's ability was only good if she could have the Senbon anchor into a point, where she could then use the bells and some ninja wire to create Genjutsu to disorient her opponent. Unfortunately, thanks to Sasuke directly deflecting them, none of them could get the chance to embed into anything. Kin kept throwing and backing up, with Sasuke continuing his advance toward her, until she ran out of Senbon. In her frantic state, she completely forgot about the ninja wire attached, and could have pulled them back, but her mind was too jarred to think straight. Sasuke was now standing two feet away from her, his arms now crossed, and his gaze piercing, despite not having the Sharingan activated. In her desperation, Kin drew out a Kunai with her right hand, and tried to bring it down on him to stab. But Sasuke casually caught the arm with the offending weapon with his right hand, and then casually placed his other hand on Kin's left side. In a steady flow, Sasuke pulled his arms back, causing Kin to flip in the air sideways, and keeping to the flow, he bumped his elbow in her stomach, which effectively sent her flying toward a tree, her back being arched back by impact.

Dosu was incredibly nervous. Sasuke had beaten each of them in one move. If they continued to fight, Dosu's team may just die, mainly himself.

Sasuke's body straightened out, and he looked to see one more to go. He was about to move to finish the job, when suddenly, he winced in pain, and his body was feeling on the verge of passing out. Also, areas where he had been hit were starting to really hurt all over, even in his bones. 'Crap… what is this? What's going on, and why is it happening now of all times?'

Dosu began to approach, too racked with pain in his arm to notice Sasuke's condition, and he took out his scroll, revealing it to be an Earth scroll.

"You are strong, Sasuke… we can't defeat you at this time… here is a gift…" Dosu offered the Earth scroll, placing it on the ground of him. "Please let us leave, this may be convenient, but there is something we must find out."

Sasuke was about ready to fall over, but he kept his composure. "Fine… but if you attack us out in this forest again, I will not hesitate in killing you…" Sasuke stated, his eyes cold and piercing, even adding his Sharingan for intimidation.

And it worked.

Dosu then picked up Kin, hoisting her up on his back, her arms hanging on his shoulders. He then took Zaku, and with his good arm, held him up by the stomach. "Very well…" And Dosu then vanished, not wanting to invoke his opponent's ire any more than needed.

As Dosu finally left, Sasuke choose that moment to pass out, falling forward, completely out cold.

"Sasuke!" Sakura ran forward, checking to see if he was alright. She checked his vitals, and found he was still alive, just out cold. She then decided to check his shoulder where he was bitten, and found the mark that had appeared was now gone, the only trace or sign of it being two bite marks that scabbing over.

Sasuke, Sakura, and even Naruto would now never come to know how much this single event had completely altered the course of their conjoined fate. Sasuke will never know how close he was to becoming the very monster he set out to take revenge on. He will never know how many lives will be spared or taken by this single choice. Never to know how many threads the tapestry of fate will have to be re-stitched because he chose a new path.

How this change will affect the future is now a complete unknown, for destinies have now been greatly altered.

**To be continued…**

**On the next Naruto's Wrath:**

Naruto and Sasuke awaken, confused about their new power… now having the Earth Scroll, Team 7 moves forward to locate a Heaven Scroll… however, in their search, they end up confronting a team of Rain Shinobi… only to bear witness to them being slaughtered by the appearance of an ancient enemy.

**Next time: Altered Fate, Changed Destiny**

**Nobody: And there you go... I hope I didn't give to many hints on things to come... but I hope you end up enjoying this, and any future parts added...  
>Fav, Alert, Review, or just Read please...<br>**

**Signed,**

**Mr. Nobody**


	3. Altered Fate, Changed Destiny

**Nobody: Well, I am impressed how popular this fic has become... Now, I am hoping I continue to write to your expectations... and if not, make it beyond your expectations... or at least decent... Well, Enjoy, also, I have some challenge concepts at the end of the chapter for those interested...**

**Chapter 2: Altered Fate, Changed Destiny**

**(Play song: In Your Belief (Ethnic Version)… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

Thanks to the help of Ino and her team, Sakura was able to keep a better eye on Sasuke and Naruto this time, at least until they would come around to waking up. By the end of the day, Sasuke had finally came around, which was good, because Ino's team had to still try and find themselves their own scroll before being disqualified. With friendly goodbyes, the two teams parted ways. After that, Sasuke and Sakura began to move, carrying the extra weight of their unconscious team mate. It wasn't until late that night, when the team decided to rest by the river. Sakura and Sasuke hadn't spoken about what happened earlier, both just wanting a moment of silence to themselves to think things over. And so, they took shifts standing guard, the other regaining much needed sleep.

During the night, unnoticed by both Sasuke and Sakura, something was going on with the seals on Naruto's stomach. Earlier, the Five Pronged Seal that had been applied on Naruto's stomach to cut him off from the Kyuubi's chakra and to ruin Naruto's Chakra control had disintegrated. This was due in fact to the awakening of his Rage Mantra, which, like Sasuke's Curse Seal, had removed the harmful seal from the body. However, this was done about the same time as Sasuke's seal, and so, the reason Naruto was still out was because the Mantra was now tampering with the next Seal, which was the seal on his stomach applied by the 4th Hokage to keep the Kyuubi inside.

Now, the Mantra was able to detect that removal of this particular seal would cause damage to the host, as the demon would then burst free from his gut, cutting out a huge portion of his life energy. So, instead of removing the seal, the Mantra worked to modify it. If the seal was to be visible, and someone would see it, they would see that not much had changed to its design, except, the four prong seal that protected the 8 trigram seal was shaped differently, there was something in the center of the 8 trigram, and the ink was now all in gold coloring. Over all, the seal now resembled a four petal lotus with symbols on each petal, and a swirling center with an intricate Mandala in the center of if, with a golden ring around the 8 trigram. As to what this entails, only time would tell.

The next morning, Naruto had finally awoken, catching Sasuke, who was taking his guard watch at the time, off guard. Now, considering how Naruto acted earlier, sans chucking a tree, Sasuke was a bit cautious and on guard around Naruto at the moment. Naruto then stood up, and began to walk in a random direction. This was soon followed by the sound of a zipper, and a tinkle of water being poured on a bush. Sasuke couldn't help but sweat drop at that. Naruto zipped back up, and proceeded to tiredly move back to the camp. By this time, Sakura had finally woken up, and caught sight of Naruto awake at last.

"Naruto! Thank goodness… You're alright…" Sakura said, placing a hand on her chest in relief.

Naruto suddenly crawled back into his sleeping bag, not having heard Sakura in his dreary state, his eyes half lidded before closing completely. Both Sasuke and Sakura just sweat dropped at this. Sakura then began to form a tick mark on her head, and then she finally lost it.

"WAKE UP IDIOT!"

**POW!**

"OW! Sakura, what was that for?" Naruto yelled, nursing a lump on his head.

"That was for making me worry you idiot!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto then took notice that Sakura's hair was now cut shorter, and he saw some slight bruising on her face. "Sakura… What happened to you?" He asked with some concern.

"Oh this… I just… decided to cut my hair short for a change…" Sakura lied, trying not to trudge up the bad experience.

Sasuke stared at Naruto's expression, seeing he had a worried look on his face, and decided to tell what happened from his point of view. "We were both knocked unconscious… and some Shinobi tried to kill us in our sleep. Sakura managed to fend them off with best of her ability… that's what happened to her…"

Naruto turned his gaze to Sakura, who now looked down, her eyes looking sadder. "Sakura… I… thank you…"

Sakura was surprised by that. She didn't think she did a very good job. In fact, it was mostly the other Konoha teams that saved them. "It wasn't all me… some others helped out…"

"Still… by the look of it, you really fought hard… and that is cool in my book…" Naruto stated, noticing that his words made Sakura feel a bit better. He scratched his head to help avoid eye contact, but suddenly looked down at his arm, and noticed his orange jacket's sleeves were gone, and then took note of the rest of his former jacket. "GAH! What happened to my Jacket! The sleeves are gone, and the zipper won't zip…" He yelled out, attempting to re-zip his orange coat. He then broke down into tears. "This was my favorite jacket… sob…"

"To be honest Naruto, I think you look good with the open sleeveless vest look…" Sakura truthfully commented. "By the way guy's, it has been killing me… but when did you guys get so amazingly strong?"

"Eh?" Naruto questioned. He then thought on her question.

"You know Naruto, when you were able to throw a tree at the snake user… I didn't know you were strong enough to do that…" Sakura commented. "And Sasuke, you were moving so fast, I couldn't even see your movements against those Sound Ninja…"

"To be honest Sakura, all I remember is that weird, creepy, snake guy hitting me in the gut with his fingers… and then passing out…" Naruto answered honestly. "I remember something happening… but it all seemed like a lucid dream…"

"As for me… all I can say is that I remember having a nightmare about something, but I forgot what it was… and then waking up to a guy blasting me with air, and me being able to move at inhuman speeds." Sasuke answered this time.

"You mean… this was the first time you ever did this?" Sakura questioned.

"Yes! /Pretty much!" Sasuke and Naruto answered at the same time.

Sakura looked at her two teammates slightly surprised they both agreed on something. Neither were even a bit curious as to how they came across this power, and that made her a bit worried, especially since Naruto had gone berserk when he got his, and didn't have any recollection of the event, and for Sasuke because he had a curse mark, and now, it was completely gone, the only trace of it being two scabs from the bite. Whatever was going on, she hopped that it wouldn't turn out bad for her and her team.

**|-Altered Fate, Changed Destiny-|**

The team had come to remember that thanks to the snake bastard, they were down one heaven scroll, and now in desperate need for it due to the whole event taking a huge chunk of their limited time. They did manage to run into Kabuto, who offered to help them, considering his team was already ahead. The plan was now they needed to head to the tower, and any teams they come across will probably have the scroll they need, and they just got to hope for the best. They travelled a long way, eventually almost getting eaten a centipede, which they easily killed off. As they continued forward, they eventual found that they had been passing the same centipede corpse over and over again for awhile. They eventually found out they were caught in a Genjutsu, which they easily broke out of.

Turns out the perpetrators for this Genjutsu were some Ame Shinobi that Team 7 had faced at the beginning of this part of the exam. And now, they were in the middle of facing this team of Genjutsu users, trying to lure them out. Naruto's improvised plan was to use Shadow clones to fight off the Genjutsu fabricated clones, and disguise some of his clones as his team and Kabuto, and to lure them out by making them think he and his team wasted their chakra, and then catch them off guard.

However, again, fate had taken an unexpected turn of events.

'Okay… just got to keep going… I can keep this up all day if I have to…' Naruto thought to himself, his many clones striking at as many illusion clones as possible.

But suddenly, there was a bloodcurdling yell, and the illusionary clones just vanished. Naruto and the others stopped to stare at where the yell came from, and suddenly, out of one of the trees dropped a body. Upon inspection of the body, one could see it was one of the Ame Shinobi, and his body was riddled with lacerations, horrid looking bruises, some bones sticking out of his flesh, and it looked like his neck had been twisted around 180 degrees. It was obvious the guy was dead.

Suddenly, something jumped down from the tree, landing right behind the fallen corpse. Whatever it was, it resembled an ape of sorts, however, its flesh looked black and blood red and its expression looked incredibly feral. Suddenly, from the trees around the area, 11 more of the monkey looking things jumped down, landing next to their kin, one of them actually having a severed arm in its mouth, the other still gripping the neck of the third member of the Ame squad like a ragdoll. The Monkey in front pounded its chest and let loose a very loud howl, and then it began to take in a deep breath. All of a sudden, a blue light began to rise from the chest of the Ame Shinobi's corpse, rising up, and getting swallowed down by the monkey like thing.

Team 7 stared with different reactions on their faces. Kabuto actually had a curious look mixed with fear on his face, slightly fascinated by these strange violent creatures. Sakura felt ready to puke, and was now even more scared then when she faced off against the Sound Ninja. As for Sasuke and Naruto, for some reason, something inside them screamed a name at the very sight of these things, a name that caused human nature recoil at the sound of. "Gohma…" they both whispered, unsure how they could have possibly known the name of such beasts they have never known of until now.

**(Play song: Gohma Theme… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

**Gohma Howler**

**Impurity Level: 32**

Sasuke and Naruto instinctively moved in front of Sakura, as if sensing the potential danger that they faced. The Howler that had the corpse of the Ame Genin in its hand charged forward with howl, using the body as a makeshift club. The human club was about to strike Naruto, who looked up in shock at the incoming body, when suddenly time seemed to slow. Then, Sasuke appeared in front of both Naruto and the Gohma, his body charging with the dark blue flaming energy, the partial mask on his face, the white markings on his flesh, and the silver gauntlets on his hands again. He slammed his elbow into the Gohma's stomach, sending flying back toward its comrades, the body of the Ame Ninja dropped and falling to the ground.

Time resumed speed again, and Naruto slightly growled. "I didn't ask for your help jerk!"

Sasuke straightened his posture, and then removed the mask from his face and tossed it aside, revealing a look of annoyance. "**Then stop gawking like an idiot!**"

Suddenly, behind Sasuke, a Gohma jumped in the air, planning on slamming his fists down on Sasuke, who was currently distracted by Naruto. By the time Sasuke turned to see the Gohma about to strike him, the Gohma had been struck in the face by Naruto, his body charging with the red energy, his forearms covered in the silver material, the black markings all on his flesh now. However, unlike the last transformation, Naruto's eyes were now visible, and had turned a slight shade of red instead of his natural blue. The Gohma went flying into a tree, breaking its neck, and causing it to disperse into a red liquid.

Sasuke then grunted in annoyance. "**I could have handled that idiot!**"

"**Then stop talking like a self absorbed jerk and start fighting!**" Naruto yelled out, also slightly irked by Sasuke.

Another Gohma attempted to attack the two while they were arguing, only to receive a punch in the face from both Sasuke and Naruto, as if mentally yelling at the beast, '**stay out of this,**' the beast going flying into the air, and dispersing in midair.

The Gohma with a severed arm attempted to attack Naruto from behind, but then, Naruto sensed the enemy, and then grabbed its oncoming arm, and then began to swing around with it, Sasuke having to duck to avoid getting hit. The flailing body of the Gohma managed to hit some on coming Gohma, knocking them back on their rears, and then he tossed it into a group of the Gohma, knocking them all back.

"**Watch where your aiming idiot, you almost hit me!**" Sasuke yelled.

"**Then stay out of my way jerk!**" Naruto yelled, charging headlong for the large group of Gohma, Sasuke following soon after.

One of the Gohma tried to charge toward Sakura and Kabuto, Sakura too enthralled by Naruto and Sasuke's fight to notice. Suddenly, Kabuto adjusted his glasses, and then struck his hand out in a karate chop type fashion toward the oncoming Gohma, chakra enveloping his hand. After the slash, the Gohma stopped in place, Kabuto now readjusting his glasses and flicking his used hand of liquid, and then the upper diagonal half of the Gohma began to slide off, the body falling to the ground, and then dispersing into the red liquid. Kabuto then suddenly pulled out a phial, and while Sakura was distracted, scooped up a sample of the substance into the phial, placing a stopper on it, and then tucking it away for later.

Sasuke and Naruto were making quick work of the ape like Gohma, literately bowling through them. When Naruto had jumped into the crowd, the first thing he did was grabbing the Gohma in front of him by its face, and then slammed its head down into the ground, the Gohma dispersing after that devastating hit. He then followed up by sweep kicking any Gohma that got too close, causing them all to fall to the ground. Naruto then jumped into the air, and axe kicked one that was attempting to get back up, slamming his foot into its back, a small indent in ground forming underneath. That particular Gohma instantly dispersed from the attack.

As for Sasuke, the moment he entered the fray, two Gohma attempted to claw him from behind, only for Sasuke to casually cross his arms, catching both the Gohma by their necks, and then slammed both of the Gohma face first into the ground, killing them instantly. Another one tried a forward charge toward Sasuke, by Sasuke simply vanished, and reappeared with his hands flattened, the Gohma stopping, and then suddenly falling into multiple pieces.

At this point, the remaining four Gohma were now cautious, keeping their distance from the two Mantra empowered Shinobi. Before Naruto and Sasuke could finish off the last four Howlers, suddenly, a booming howl echoed through the forest. Naruto and Sasuke peered upwards to see that up on one of the trees was a much larger Gohma Howler, which was now pounding its chest at them, howling much louder than the one before. This beast was obviously the leader of this group, the Primary Howler, and it looked like it could take much more hits than the lesser Howlers could take. The Primary Howler than jumped down, and charged forward, running toward Naruto and Sasuke. Both were stood ready for to attack, but both were caught off guard when the giant Howler jumped over them, by passing them, and made its charge continue toward Kabuto and Sakura.

"**Shit!**" both Naruto and Sasuke yelled, preparing to intercept, but both were blocked off by the 4 remaining lesser Howlers. The larger Gohma charged, Kabuto taking a stance to try and stave it off, but instantly, Kabuto was bowled over, easily knocked aside by the large Gohma. The large Gohma then stopped in front of Sakura, who was now backing up in fear of the Primary Howler. Naruto and Sasuke wasted no time in killing the remaining Lesser Howlers, and charged forward to stop the larger Gohma. However, it looked back at them, and then quickly grabbed Sakura, and then jumped out of the way of Naruto and Sasuke's combined attack.

"Naruto! Sasuke! HELP ME!" Sakura yelled, as the Howler jumped into the trees, and began to make a hasty retreat.

"**Get back here and fight us!**" Naruto yelled at the beast.

"**Out of my way idiot!**" Sasuke then pushed Naruto out of the way, and began to give chase.

Naruto growled in frustration, and followed after Sasuke, keeping up with Sasuke's speed. Kabuto came too, wincing in pain at the slight damage to his ribcage, and then saw Sasuke and Naruto speeding off at near Jonin level speeds. 'Hmm… fascinating… Lord Orochimaru will be quite interested in this turn of events…'

**|-Altered Fate, Changed Destiny-|**

The Gohma Howler was moving quite fast through the trees, able to keep itself ahead of Naruto and Sasuke in speed, despite their already fast pace. Suddenly, reached behind its rear to grab something, and then dropped what appeared to be red orbs on the ground behind it. Sasuke, noticing the orb right away, jumped over it. As for Naruto, his attention was too focused on Sakura, and so, when he finally noticed the orb, he had accidentally stepped on it. This in turn caused a small explosion to go off, tripping Naruto off his feet, and tumbling on the ground a few times. During Naruto's tumble, he managed to regain his footing, continuing his charge.

"**What the hell was that? Explosive Crap or something?**" Naruto yelled out while running, pissed off he lagged so far behind Sasuke.

"**Either keep up or let me handle it idiot!**" Sasuke stated.

"**Shut up asshole! I'm going to be the one to save Sakura!**" Naruto yelled back, increasing his already fast speed.

"**Not if I get there first!**" Sasuke then sped up, inching closer to the beast.

They continued to give chase, knowing the moment they let up, Sakura would be dead. The howler then continued to throw the red orbs out at the two, this time causing them to explode upon impact with the ground. Sasuke easily dodged the incoming projectiles, and as for Naruto, now that he knew what these things were, he made much more of an effort to try and dodge them this time.

"**It's flinging explosive crap at us! That's nasty!**" Naruto stated, making a slightly disgusted face, jumping over another exploding orb.

"**Stop referring to it as crap, idiot…**" Sasuke dodged another one, not taking any chances.

The chase continued on this way, reaching the outskirts of the forest of Death, pulling the team further and further away from their original destination.

"Please! Help me!" Sakura yelled, trying everything she could to resist the ape, but soon finding her body wasn't strong enough to do any damage to the Gohma. 'Even now… I'm nothing but dead weight to my team… why can't I be of any help to them?' She berated herself.

'**Gah! This is taking forever!**' Naruto thought to himself. '**At this rate, we'll probably reach the village the time we catch it!**'

'**The more we chase this thing, the farther away from the tower we're getting… what's more, we can't let this thing run wild in Konoha…**' Sasuke pondered.

"**Gah! That's it! I've had enough of this thing!**" Naruto yelled, and he charged forward, running alongside Sasuke. He then suddenly grabbed Sasuke, hefting him off the ground, still chasing after the monkey.

"**Naruto? What are you doing?**" Sasuke yelled.

"**Improvising… Just go along with it!**" Naruto yelled, and then with a mighty heave, Naruto tossed Sasuke like a javelin toward the ape, Sasuke's body speeding like a kunai.

"**I see now…**" Sasuke then adjusted his body, and cocked his fist back. As he approached the Gohma Howler, the Gohma saw him, and quickly sidestepped the oncoming fist. As it went to dodge the fist, Naruto used the opportunity to speed up to it, and so, cocked his own fist back, striking it right in the face, forcing it to let go of Sakura, who began to plummet toward the ground. Naruto managed to slam the Gohma's face right into the ground, decimating the Gohma enough to kill it on impact, crushing its skull. As for Sakura, she was suddenly caught by Sasuke, who grabbed her bridal style, and landed smoothly on the ground.

"**Are you alright Sakura?**" Naruto asked, running up to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Yes… I'm fine now… thank you guy's… but now we're so far away from the tower… and we haven't even gotten a scroll yet… thanks to me, we're going to be disqualified…" Sakura stated, bowing her head in shame.

"**Don't worry Sakura… we ran all this way to catch up with you… we should be able to get back…**" Naruto stated, trying to reassure Sakura.

"**As for the scroll… I'm sure we'll be able to pick it off of any teams lagging behind on our way there...**" Sasuke mentioned.

Then, without another word, Sasuke readjusted Sakura so she would now be piggy back riding on his back, and then both Naruto and Sasuke ran at top speed back the way they came, moving so fast, the wind blew in Sakura's face. As they moved back, Sakura began to really reevaluate her current position as a Kunoichi.

**(Play song: Surge of Mantra… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

'All throughout this part of the exam, I have been completely useless… I'm starting to question why I decided to become a Kunoichi in the first place. Am I a Kunoichi because I wanted to be, or because I wanted to be with Sasuke?' She looked at Naruto and Sasuke in their new forms, everything speeding by in a blur. 'I don't think I am cut out to be a Shinobi… I'm not special or anything, I have no ace up my sleeve, or a bloodline to fall back on… I think Sasuke and Naruto might be better off without me holding them back…' As she thought this, a tear reached the edge of her eye, then caught in the wind, and fell to the ground.

'As soon as we get back to the tower, and after this exam, I'll drop out… of the whole program… I don't want to be any more of a burden to my team then I already am…' Sakura thought, her heart literally starting to ache. This went unknown to Sasuke and Naruto as they were too focused on getting back to the tower in time, and in one piece. 'I don't know what I'll do with myself besides this, but it is better than doing nothing beneficial for my team. My team has told I am smart… plus, I'm young… maybe I can work at being something else if I put my mind to it.' More tears fell, catching in the wind and falling to the ground. 'I will miss our times together though… Naruto always trying to ask me on a date… Sasuke arguing with Naruto… Kakashi Sensei and his perverted book, and always being two hours late… hanging out with my team at different restaurants… and even doing those D rank missions… if only I had trained more… but I guess it is too late for that… I am quitting being a Shinobi!'

**|-Altered Fate, Changed Destiny-|**

On their way back to the Tower, Team 7 had managed to run back into Kabuto, who called out for them. "Hey! I see you got your teammate back!" At seeing Kabuto, Sasuke and Naruto slow down and changed course to meet up with him. "Were you guys able to find a scroll for the exam?" Kabuto questioned as they approached.

"**Sigh… we were hoping we'd come across a team on our back, but we didn't find any…**" Sasuke mentioned.

"I see… well, your team is in luck… turns out the Ame Shinobi we were facing just so happened to have a Heaven Scroll on their person…" Kabuto stated, taking out a white scroll that had some splotches of blood on it. "I kind of picked off the scroll from their remains… it wasn't pretty… I'm willing to give it to you guys since my team is already waiting for me…"

"**Alright! That means we just have to get to the tower and **we pa…" Naruto began to cheer, but suddenly stopped. Naruto then fell forward, passed out on the ground.

"Naruto?" Sakura yelled out, checking on her blonde teammate. Soon, Sasuke also fell forward, also passed out. "Sasuke!" As the two lay on the ground, the features that marked their power boost faded away, reverting the two back to their normal forms.

Kabuto checked them, and after examining them, he sighed in relief. "Don't worry… it seems they are suffering from exhaustion… they should wake up real soon…" Sakura sighed in relief. "However, we're going to have to carry them as we don't have time to wait for them to wake up…"

And so, Kabuto and Sakura both got to work at carrying Naruto and Sasuke's prone bodies, racing as quickly as they could toward the tower.

**A little later…**

Team 7 had managed to make it to the Tower without any more incident, and Naruto and Sasuke had managed to wake up before going inside, which was good for Sakura, because after Kabuto left to meet up with his team, Sakura would have been left to drag both Naruto and Sasuke in. After they made it inside, they found a sign about the principles of being a Shinobi, Heaven representing mind, and Earth representing the body, and got the chance to see their former Sensei, Iruka. After that, the Hokage was going to congratulate the winners of this round, however, it had turned out too many had passed this round, so they were going to have to trim the fat of Shinobi by holding a preliminary elimination round. When asked if any Shinobi wanted to resign from the exam, Kabuto offered to resign, mentioning that he was injured in the forest, and his ribcage was starting to hurt.

Sakura herself was about to resign, but Sasuke, assuming she was thinking of mentioning the events involving the curse seal, and was planning on getting him to resign gave her a look, and told her not to say anything. Sakura couldn't bring herself to resign after that, and so, she changed her plan on resigning to during the prelims, and later, when things settle down, she will resign from her position as a Shinobi with Naruto or Sasuke being none the wiser. Oh yes… she had no intention of telling either of her teammates until after the deed was done. She feared they would either try to talk her out of it, or be disappointed in her.

And so, the screen on the board began to flash through multiple names, deciding who will end up facing who in the first round of the preliminaries. All of the Genin stood on the ground floor, waiting to see who would be called first.

The fights were now determined by random chance… what happens now was in the hands of the altered choice of fate.

**To be continued…**

**On the next Naruto's Wrath:**

The Preliminaries have begun; however, Sakura is faced with a harsh decision that will determine the course of her life. Meanwhile… Sasuke will face his first opponent, and will see that he will have no use for his Mantra in this match…

Will Sakura manage to overcome her own weaknesses, or will her ambitions die? And will she be the only one whose ambitions will die that day?

**Next time: Vain Attempt, Lustful Ambition**

* * *

><p><strong>Gohma Index:<strong>

**Gohma Howler:** Small Gohma that run rampant throughout the land. They resemble monkeys, and commonly appear in packs. Each pack is made up of a primary Howler and lesser Howlers.

**Height (At full Height):**

Lesser Howler: Approx. 2m  
>Primary Howler: Approx. 2.5m<p>

**Width:**

Lesser Howler: Approx. 2m

Primary Howler: Approx. 2.5m

**Impurity Level: 32**

* * *

><p><strong>Nobody: Well, I hope this chapter has met up with your expectations. <strong>

**Now then, I have two things I want to mention…**

**First off, ATTENTION GAMERS who have played Asura's Wrath… don't go turning the game in, or selling it off just yet! There is some exciting new Downloadable content that you will certainly not want to miss… For more info, go look up an Asura's Wrath trailer for future downloadable content… I'd tell you about it, but there might also be some who haven't fully played the game yet reading this, and I don't want to give away too many spoilers. All I'm going to say is come mid April; Episodes 19-22 will be released as DLC.**

**Second off... The Asura's Wrath section is quite empty… so, I offer some challenge ideas for potential concepts for possible X-over stories. Now I warn you… some of these concepts are straight from my head, so they may end up being a bit… out there…**

**1****st**** challenge…**

**Challenge Title: **Asura of Wrath vs. Asura of Madness

**X-over: **Asura's Wrath/Soul Eater

**Summary: **When the Kishin Asura had been awaken from his slumber, his madness had flooded throughout the world. However, what if the madness had awoken a being long since dormant. A being of great rage and power. A being that is known as the demigod of Wrath, Asura. Now, Asura roams the world, looking for a way to quell his rage, facing the strange new world of Soul Eater.

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **What I am hoping to see is three things that are optional. First, I am hoping to see that DWMA might view the demigod Asura as a threat or a disaster, and may not exactly work with him, or even might be against him. Second thing I hope for, I was thinking just as the Kishin's madness affects others, invoking their madness, that maybe the demigod Asura's rage might actually affect those around him, invoking their wrath. Finally, I at least expect a confrontation of Asura of Wrath vs. Asura of Madness.

**2****nd**** Challenge…**

**Challenge Title: **Vampire + Wrath

**X-over: **Asura's Wrath/Rosario Vampire

**Summary: **Some time during his time at the Academy of Yokai, Tsukune ends up coming across an ancient looking statue that emits a rage from it… when he comes into contact with the statue, an ancient rage enters his being, changing him from the inside. How will this effect Tsukune's time at Yokai Academy?

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **I am thinking this could be a series, or could be a one shot… one part I mainly wish to see is when the Safety Commission attacks the Newspaper club, and also, what I wish to see is Kyuyo get a major ass whooping from a demigod of rage. However, for interest purpose, try to start him off with a low power level that gradually rises up. Also, I know what you're all thinking… How dare you suggest putting something like that in a school? Here is my response… Come on people, the students of that school are so full of themselves; they have no intention of living amongst humans. These kids need to be knocked down a peg or two. And what better way to knock a monster down a peg then with a demigod, especially one that was formerly human in Tsukune's case…

**3****rd**** Challenge:**

**Challenge Title: **Angels vs. Wrath

**X-over: **Asura's Wrath/Evangelion (any version that suits you)

**Summary: **With the coming of the Angels, and the eventuality of 3rd impact, the fate of this world is dour and dreary. However, what will the interference of a wrathful demigod bring to the fate of this world?

**Plot Suggestions (Optional): **Oh come on Guy's! Giant lumbering Angels terrorizing humanity… That is just begging for the epic-ness of Asura's Wrath! You can go one of two ways. One, Asura be brought into this world, and ends up later kicking some major Angel butt… or, one, or more, of the characters from Evangelion receive the power of Mantra… I just like the thought that when it comes to Asura's Wrath, the power of size is literately thrown out the window. Size literately doesn't matter. That is all I am going to say.

**4****th**** Challenge:**

**Challenge Title: **Forming of the Guardian Generals

**Summary: **Asura, Yasha, Augus, Wyzen, Kalrow, Sergei, Olga, and Deus were all members of the 8 Guardian Generals. But how did they come to reach this rank and title. What adventures and battles did they fight in their long lifetimes? For that matter… who were their predecessors?

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **So here is your chance to write a piece of the Asura's Wrath history. My suggestion… make it take place back when Asura and Yasha were training under Augus. Like Augus is already a current member of the Eight Guardian Generals, and Asura and Yasha were just his apprentices/subordinates at the time...

**Final Challenge:**

**Challenge Title: **Anything Goes

**Summary: **Do whatever type of Crossover, or change the story as you would see fit… even make a story involving an OC, or do a parody of Asura's Wrath with anime Characters playing the parts… heck, even do some role reversals if you want… I just want to start to see this section flourish.

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **Personally, I'd like to see how Asura would react to being in another world or story line… Or even the Parody would do… just as long as it is taken seriously…

**Let me know if any of you wish to try these challenges out. Also, if you want, I am also willing to provide advice for these challenges if asked… also, you the audience, if you would prefer I not mention a challenge at the end of the chapter any more, please let me know…**

**Well, that is all… can't wait to hear what you guys think…**

**Signed,**

**Mr. Nobody**


	4. Vain Attempt, Lustful Ambition

**Nobody: Sorry for the long wait… life and all that there… that, and for this chapter, I was having trouble putting it together and planning it out… luckily, I took some advice from my good buddy, Soul Teller… check out some of his fics some time… Anyway… on to the next chapter… enjoy…**

**Chapter 3: Vain Attempt, Lustful Ambition**

The screen on the board began to flash through multiple names, deciding who will end up facing who in the first round of the preliminaries. All of the Genin stood on the ground floor, waiting to see who would be called first.

**Sakura Haruno**

**Vs.**

**Yoroi Akado**

That was the name that popped up on the screen. Sakura couldn't believe her luck. She ended up having to go first in the preliminaries.

The man who had announced the need for the preliminaries then spoke up to the crowd, a sickly man who was known as Hayate Gekko. "Everyone but the two whose names have been called, please move to the stands. We will begin this match when I give the call…"

Sakura was about to announce that she forfeits, however, a hand then touched her shoulder. She turned to see Naruto standing there smiling at her. "Kick his ass Sakura… I believe in you" Naruto stated, giving her the thumbs up.

Naruto then proceeded up to the stands. Sakura would have said something, but then she felt another pat on her shoulder, and she turned to see Sasuke, taking his hand off her shoulder, not turning to face her. "Do your best…" he stoically said, then continued heading up to the overlooking balconies.

Ino was about to go to Sakura to make a snide remark to egg her on, but she then caught sight of her rival's expression. Ino had only seen that expression on Sakura's face twice in her life. The first time was when they were children in the prep academy for Kunoichi, and the other girls would make fun of Sakura all the time before Ino came into her life. The second time was back in the forest of Death, after Sasuke had dealt with the Sound Genin. Sakura had a forlorn expression that showed she just wanted to crawl into a corner, and huddle there. Ino knew this expression, for despite Ino and Sakura's rivalry driving a huge wedge into their relationship, on a deeper, less superficial level, they were still friends. Ino wanted to say something to Sakura, but the crowd pushed her along, making her miss her chance.

Sakura wanted to quit, but after hearing that from her team, she couldn't just up and quit before the match even started. She looked over to her opponent, Yoroi Akado, a man who was Shinobi grade built in physique, wore a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, and cloth covering his face and any other features that included his head. As for his outfit, he wore the same outfit Kabuto was wearing.

Hayate announced the rules of the matches. Give everything you got; winner will be decided by knockout, forfeit, or death; Hayate will try to step in if chances seem like one or the other will possibly die; etc.

"This is the first match of the preliminary rounds, are both combatants ready?" Hayate received a nod from Akado, while from Sakura, he got a hesitant one. "Then let the match begin!" He stated, jumping back out of the combatant's ways.

Yoroi wasted no time, charging forward for Sakura, who finally got her head in, and quickly jumped back from the attack. Yoroi pursued her, attempting to make a grab for her, Sakura not allowing him the opportunity. Unfortunately, Sakura wasn't watching her surroundings, and ended up bumping into the wall. This gave Yoroi the chance to grab her before she could react fast enough.

"Ha! I got you now!" He grabbed her by her collar, lifting her into the air, and slammed her into the ground behind her. She gagged in pain from the impact, her eyes closed shut. Yoroi didn't let go of her, slowly draining her of her chakra through his hands.

"Sakura! Get out of there!" Naruto yelled down to her, but it was as if she couldn't hear him.

"Hmph… this is pathetic… the match just started, and you're already about to keel over…" Yoroi complained a bored expression on his face. He lifted Sakura up, holding his hand now over her throat. "Your chakra reserves even suck… I don't know what you were thinking trying to take the Chuunin exam… but if I was you, I'd quit while I was ahead…"

"Sakura! Don't give up! Do something!" Naruto yelled down, trying to grab Sakura's attention, but with little success.

Sasuke stared down at his teammate with a stoic expression, his hand tightly gripping the balcony's pole.

"Sakura! Just hang in there!" Lee yelled down to his crush.

"Forehead! Don't go giving up before doing anything! Come on! You can take this guy" Ino attempted to cheer, not wanting to see her former friend beaten so harshly in such a way.

"Tch… figures pinky would do a horrible job…" stated a partially injured Kin to herself, watching the proceedings with disinterest.

"If this is the best Konoha has to offer, I don't really see what is so special…" Temari commented.

"Man… this is an embarrassment to us Kunoichi… she's making us look bad…" Tenten growled out.

'Hmm… it seems something is troubling Sakura… I wonder what it could be…' Kakashi thought to himself.

Sakura didn't even hear a word said to her or about her, her eyes literately dead inside, her ears completely deaf to everything around her, blood pouring from the wound on her forehead. 'Why am I here? It would be so much easier just to give up… the proctor even said I could forfeit… '

"Tch… not even worth my time…" Yoroi stated, and then began to drop Sakura, but before she touched the ground, he managed to kick her across the room. "Even your chakra is not worth draining… just give up already so all of us can move on…"

"Don't listen to him Sakura! Keep fighting!" Naruto yelled out.

Sakura then got back to her feet, not even hearing anything anymore, except for her own self loathing.

'I'm just a huge disappointment… I guess now would be a good time as any to quit…' She thought to herself, beginning to lift her arm and call for forfeit.

'_**Is that really all you got? Pathetic… you didn't even try to win…**_' a voice rang out in her head.

Sakura's eyes widened, and time suddenly began to slow down.

"Who? Who said that?" She asked, but saw no one react.

**(Play song: The Golden Spider … from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

'_**It's so sad, even I am disgusted with you…**_' the voice continued.

Sakura then lowered her gaze. "Yeah… no matter what I do, I am completely useless…" Sakura stated. "What was I thinking? This was a waste of time…"

'_**Seems like it…**_' the voice stated.

"I don't even know why I became a ninja anymore… whether it was to make my parents proud, because I wanted to become one, or if it was to impress Sasuke… but…" Sakura said, despondent.

'_**Ah your parents… can't forget about them… they certainly were proud of you when you graduated from the academy that day...**_' The voice stated. Suddenly, images began to flash before Sakura, one of which showed her being praised for her Graduation, mentions of her hard work and dedication. '_**Then you enter the Chunin exams… you could have just up and quit then, and left your team hanging, but you entered anyway… and look how far you have gotten! If you were my kid, I'd be proud of you…**_'

"Even so… I never really trained to be physically fit as a Ninja… I'm not even able to be quick with hand signs. I may be quite knowledgeable, but physically, I'm inadequate as a ninja." Sakura argued back.

'_**What you lack in physical skill, you more than make up for…**_'

"What? What are talking about?" Sakura asked.

'_**Well, look at you! You have good looks, you have courage, and you even have tenacity, which are all good traits to have!**_' Suddenly, another image flashed before Sakura, this time of when she stood up to the Sound Genin, and did everything in her capabilities, all to protect her teammates.

"Yeah… but…" Sakura attempted, but was interrupted.

'_**Look at where you are!**_'The image then returned to the Chunin preliminaries. '_**You're in the second part of the exams! When you finish this, you'll be one step closer to becoming a Chunin! And what's more, you have comrades that believe in you and support you!**_'

"I-I do?" Sakura asked.

'_**Oh yes…**_' Suddenly, Naruto began to reanimate in front of her eyes, continuing his cheers for her to not give up or lose hope. '_**Look at him… sure he might be a bit of a loud mouth… but one thing is for sure, that boy hasn't lied to you yet… if he believes you can win, then he truly does…**_' Suddenly, Naruto went in slow motion again, and then Sasuke began to reanimate at normal speed again. '_**And so does your other companion…**_' Sakura then took notice of Sasuke's hand gripping the bar tightly. '_**Though he won't admit it, he does believe that you are a capable Shinobi when you rise to the occasion…**_'

"They… really believe in me…" Sakura realized.

'_**Cherish yourself… you have lot more going for you then you realize… don't be afraid to make mistakes… and take every choice with your head held high, and remember… you are beautiful!**_'

At that moment, Sakura felt something well in her chest… a sort of self respect that she had been lacking as of late. And it felt good. "Yeah… you're right… you're Right!" Her confidence began to build up more. "I can do this! I'm brave, I'm smart, and I'm tenacious… I don't need physical power to win this!" She then began to assess the situation. "What I need is to think… this is like a puzzle… If I can't over power my foe, then I'll out think them!"

'_**That's it! Let your Vain confidence swell… and show this pathetic fool what you're made of!**_' The voice finished, and then time began to resume again.

"So… are going to forfeit already kid?" Yoroi asked impatiently. "Come on… we don't have all day…"

**(Play song: Breaching the Karma Fortress … from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

Sakura then looked up at her opponent, her eyes shining with determination. A simple thought came to her… if her opponent was physically stronger than her; she'll do what Naruto is famous for… she'll improvise. "I'm not done yet… this fight has only just begun!" Then, with a sluggish speed, Sakura managed to perform the hand signs for a **Clone Jutsu**, and managed to summon up two clones. All three of the Sakura's charged forward, all of them drawing a kunai, and moving in zigzag patterns to better conceal the real Sakura.

"Clones? You're kidding right? Just more chakra for me to absorb!" Yoroi boasted, taking out a kunai just in case. He braced himself as the clones got closer; however, he was suddenly surprised when instead of engaging with him, the clones took a triangle formation surrounding him.

The three then threw their kunai at Yoroi, who easily found the real one among the clones and blocked it. "You're wasting your… time?" Suddenly, he found that along with the kunai that was tossed, hidden behind it was a smoke bomb. Because of the fact that the **Clone Jutsu** is sight based for deception, it would mirror whatever actions the original would do or use whatever the original would use, hence why it was a pale comparison to the **Shadow clone Jutsu**, which allowed the individual clones to think on their own. However, sight was all Sakura needed for a smoke bomb, as the clone bombs went off and released smoke as well, completely engulfing the arena floor in both real smoke and illusion smoke.

"Hide all you want I'll still find you!" Yoroi yelled out, keeping his eyes open for anything.

"Who says I'm hiding?" Sakura asked, and she suddenly charged toward Yoroi from out of the smoke.

Yoroi reacted accordingly, and struck out at Sakura, only to find it was actually a clone, which went poof and then vanished afterward.

"A clone eh? Fine… that was one clone, so that means you only have one more clone left… and I'm not going to let you just come to me… I'm going hunting." Yoroi then began to run in a random direction, keeping both of his eyes open for anything within the smoke. Suddenly, a Kunai struck him in the back of his left knee, causing him to cry out in pain. "Damn it! You're asking for it!" ignoring the pain to his knee, he hobbled to where the Kunai's trajectory came from, and, going as fast as he could, he finally spotted her, and jumping toward her, struck out at her. She went up into a puff of smoke, revealing it to be another clone. Suddenly, another Kunai shot out, and struck him in his right thigh, causing him to wince in pain. "This is getting ridiculous! You should be out of clones… meaning this next one is for real!"

He hobbled through the smoke, and caught sight of another Sakura. Striking out at her, it revealed to be another clone. "Making more clones, eh? Make as many as you can, they will not help you in this match!"

Suddenly, Sakura began charging out toward Yoroi in a very obvious way. "Another clone… start trying something more original!" he yelled.

Sakura then stabbed him in the left shoulder with a Kunai, Yoroi barely having enough time to dodge a blow to his heart. "Gah! Damn it you bitch!" He yelled out. He then went to reach for her, but she backpedaled into the smoke, concealing herself again. "You think you can beat me down? You are way too weak for that! You should just give up!"

"You would like me to do that, wouldn't you?" Sakura's voice sounded from within the smoke, echoed to hide her position. "But after thinking about it… it would be quite grotesque for me to give up without even putting up a fight first… I think I'd much rather put on a beautiful show than to lose to a jerk like you… besides… my team is rooting me on… I can't disappoint them…"

A barrage of Kunai shot out, Yoroi barely having the chance to dodge it. As he regained his footing, he was about to run toward where the Kunai came from, when he noticed something on the ground he was standing on.

"If I'm going to go out…" Sakura started, before appearing a few yards in front of him with a Kunai in her hands, an explosive tag on it. "I'm going out with a lovely bang!"

Littering the ground Yoroi was standing on were very small scale paper bombs, set to go off upon ignition. Sakura then tossed the kunai, the explosive tag igniting the moment it landed right in front of Yoroi.

"Or more accurately… you're going out!" Sakura stated with smirk.

**BOOM!** **Boom! Boom! Boom!**

Multiple booms erupted, Yoroi having attempted to escape, but was still caught in the blasts, and smoke was blown back away from the blasts.

"What's going on? Is Sakura okay?" Naruto yelled out, no one able to see through the smoke and kicked up dust.

"I see something!" Ino yelled out.

The smoke then cleared to show Sakura still standing, if a bit beat up and winded, and Yoroi's body lying on the ground with some serious looking burns here and there. Suddenly, Yoroi's body began to twitch, and then began to get back up.

"Damn you bitch… for that, I'm going drain you dry…" Yoroi stated, limping toward Sakura.

"Well damn… I guess it wasn't enough…" Sakura stated, not looking too upset. "Oh well, at least I got him down this far… he's more about to keel over than me… I guess I can take him down now…" Sakura then charged forward, her body beginning to run low on her chakra reserves, so she herself was near to passing out due to exhaustion. However, she kept running forward, her hand cocked back. She then began to visualize that the person in front of her was Naruto when he ended up doing something stupid or perverted. "You IDIOT, CHA!" She yelled out, striking her fist into Yoroi's face, sending him flying back into the wall. At that moment, Naruto couldn't help but involuntarily shiver.

Sakura then retracted her fist, and fell back on her rear, letting out a huge sigh. "And that was it… I'm tapped out…"

"Way to go Sakura!" Naruto cheered, but then something dawned on him. "Wait, did you just envision me as your opponent in that last attack?"

"Sorry, I needed some real motivation…" Sakura answered back sincerely.

"Oh that is cold Sakura… that is just cold…" Naruto stated, putting his head down in sorrow.

Sasuke then smirked. "Not bad Sakura… you did good…" He stated.

'I've never seen Sakura this confident before…'Ino thought, beginning to feel pumped up from Sakura's display. 'Well then, if Sakura can put on a great show, I don't see why I can't in my next match… in fact, I'll make it ten times better… then I'll catch Sasuke's attention, and he will be so impressed, he'll definitely want to be with me over Forehead!' Ino thought, imaging the thought in her head of Sasuke being impressed over her.

"YOSH! Sakura! You are burning with the fires of youth!" Lee yelled down, literal flames in his eyes.

Suddenly, everyone stopped cheering, and their eyes widened in surprise.

"Hahahaha… Thanks for that pinky…" A voice called out. Everyone then turned to see Yoroi, standing back up as if he hadn't been punched across the room. "That little love tap gave me enough chakra to stay in this and recover… Now, I'm going to take the rest…" Yoroi then began to charge forward.

'Well crap… I thought he was out… well, at least I gave my best.' Sakura then lifted her head, holding it high, awaiting for the finishing attack to come.

"Sakura! Get out of there!" Naruto yelled out.

"Forehead, Move!" Ino also yelled out.

'Heh… I have nothing more to move with… I'm fully spent. I used up every ace in the hole I had.' Sakura thought to herself, feeling very proud at the moment. 'It would be a grotesque act if I backed down now… so, I'm going to let myself shine, and embrace what happens next…'

'_**Not bad… you have actually met the requirements… enjoy this power, it is yours after all… **_'The voice from earlier stated.

**(Play song: Theme of the Seven Deities … from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

Suddenly, Sakura's body began to erupt with a lavender colored power, catching everyone off guard. Markings appeared on her body, mainly swirl like markings on her fore head above her eyes. Then, at the top of her head appeared a silver tiara like hair band that fit perfectly in pushing her hair back. On her arms appeared a pair of silver bracers with tassels hanging down from the side of the arm, and finally, what appeared over her hands were what seemed to be white silk with the trimmings completely covering her wrists.

This stopped Yoroi's charge for moment to assess the situation, but then he continued his charge again, not stopping until he grabbed Sakura's face.

"I don't know what you're doing, but I think I'll just steal your chakra before you get a chance to do it!" Yoroi stated, the lavender energy flowing into his arms. Suddenly, his wounds and burns began to heal over, completely erasing any traces of his fight. "Man! I don't know what this is… but I feel better than I ever have!" He kept draining Sakura, and at this point, her eyes began to shut, and everything that had appeared on her body then began to vanish. Sakura then passed out in Yoroi's hand.

Hayate had noticed this, and so, went to make his call. "Sakura Haruno has lost by knock out… *cough*… you can let go of her now…" He stated to Yoroi, who was laughing at how good he felt.

"I am almost tempted not to let go… Ha! I'll have to look her up later, and take some more." Suddenly, steam began to rise from his hands. "What the…?" The ejection of steam began to spread to the rest of his body, not really hurting, just feeling weird. "What is this...?" and that is when it happened… starting from his hand, and creeping up the rest of his arm, his flesh began to turn to steel like substance, his veins becoming a burning red. This of course caused him to lose his grip on Sakura, who fell to the ground unconscious. "What in the…!** I can't move my hand!**" Yoroi was panicking as his flesh continued to transmute into the steel substance, showing no sign of stopping and hardening into place. "**HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME!**" He yelled out.

Everyone in the audience looked in horror, as Yoroi's body slowly began to petrify, and nobody having any clue as to how to resolve this.

"**WHAT ARE YOU ALL STANDING AROUND FOR! DO SOMETHING! HELP M…**"Yoroi's pleas for help were cut off as the substance made it to his mouth area, and he was completely petrified in metal, the red glowing veins eventually dying down to black, and the metal then shifting to a rock like substance. All that was now left of Yoroi was a statue displaying his agonizing fear.

Hayate was speechless. He didn't know what just happened. Moving over to the statue, he attempted to find any trace that Yoroi was still alive, but found none, no breathing, no heart beat, nothing. "*Cough* Due to Yoroi dying, he is disqualified from the exams… *cough*… however, since Sakura Haruno had passed out before Yoroi died, she will not be allowed to proceed to the finals… but, I will now count this match as a draw… *cough*"

The Hokage watched, interested in the results. 'Amazing… even when she was with her back to the wall, she performed excellently… this generation is certainly full of surprises…' Sarutobi thought to himself, having observed the whole fight. During the fight, he went through different emotions. First he felt disappointment as Sakura was going to give up to easily, then he felt pride as she fought her hardest, and now, he felt surprised, but pleasantly so, that she was able to pull such power from out of nowhere. Too bad the girl won't be in the finals, but then again, she did need a little more training. Other than that though, she had potential.

With team 7, their thoughts were on different matters.

'Wow! Sakura was actually able to use the same power as me and Sasuke! That is so cool!' Naruto thought excitedly. Naruto was certainly surprised, but at the same time, ecstatic.

'Sakura has this power now? Something is up… it's too much of a coincidence that all the members of our team happen to unlock this hidden power…' Sasuke was both surprised and suspicious of this whole thing, wondering what may have happened, or what might be the cause of this.

'When was Sakura able to do that? This is certainly unexpected…' Kakashi thought to himself, pretending to hide his surprise by looking into his book. 'I best keep an eye on her just in case…'

Team 10 had mixed emotions as well…

'Wow… I guess whatever Sasuke did, Sakura must of found a way to do it as well… not bad Forehead… but I'm not going to let you get ahead of me…' Ino thought to herself.

'Troublesome…' Shikamaru thought.

As for Choji, he just munched away.

Team 8 was looking slightly disbelieving by Sakura's display of power, to the point where even Shino was slightly surprised by sign of one of his eyebrows rising.

Hinata was perhaps the only person in the whole room worried about the man, who was just now petrified, and just up and died.

As for Kiba, he began to question that if someone as physically inadequate as Sakura was able to pull off such a great show… what about the other two teammates… sure Naruto is an idiot in his opinion, but he also knows that the dead last can be quite surprising.

As for Team Gai…

"Yosh! Way to go Sakura!" Lee yelled out, having not noticed that Sakura still technically lost.

"Hmph… even with power, she still lost… she even had a chance at the last minute… fate did not smile on her this day…" Neji stated.

"Still, that was an impressive comeback… I thought for sure she was going to quit…" Tenten stated, her tone slightly shocked.

"Kakashi, I must say, I am impressed with your student's fires… she certainly displayed her Youthful vigor beautifully in this match!" Gai yelled out at his eternal rival.

"Hmm? Did you say something Gai?" Kakashi responded.

'Curse you Kakashi and your hip attitude!' Gai thought to himself.

With the Sound Genin, who were annoyed, they instantly recognized the power when they saw it.

"That power she just displayed… it is the same as what the Uchiha used…" Zaku stated.

"No… it was the same, but also different…" Dosu commented.

"I guess we'll have to keep our eyes open for that team…" Kin said.

For the team of Genin from Suna, some were surprised, but all were unimpressed.

"That was nothing to get all excited about… these Konoha Shinobi must be really laxed if that was the standards of their village…" Kankuro commented.

"Hmph… definitely not the prime example of a Kunoichi." Temari stated.

Gaara on the other hand, was curious. 'That power… I sensed it multiple times in the forest… If it is so great, I wish to kill whoever has it… that will most certainly prove my existence…'

Finally, the last occupant of the room, Orochimaru, who was disguised as a Sound Jonin instructor, observed the situation with interest. 'Well I'll be… I didn't recognize it when the 9 tails container used it, but after seeing what it did to Yoroi, I remember it… after stealing those samples, and attempting to use them all those years ago, how could I forget the signs of Mantra rejection… poor foolish Yoroi, his own power sealed his fate… Kukukuku…' Orochimaru then looked toward Naruto, his expression never changing. 'I will say, Danzo has certainly been busy… I what it was his Root organization figured out that even I was unable to… I had practically ended up using all the samples I stole in my attempt to create a being that could utilize the power of Mantra… but of course, they all ended up the same as foolish young Yoroi… I'll have to consider looking back into this at a later time… it might prove… beneficial… Kukukuku…'

**|-Vain Attempt, Lustful Ambition-|**

Eyes began to open… they blinked a few times, and see the faces of Naruto right in front, with Ino at the side, and Kakashi and Sasuke standing in the back ground.

"Ow my head is pounding…" Sakura stated, finally coming to.

"Alright, you're finally awake Sakura!" Naruto cheered.

"Naruto, not so loud… I got a bit of a headache already…" Sakura complained.

"You had quite a fight, so rest up Sakura…" Kakashi stated in his usual lazy tone.

"Huh… did I win?" Sakura asked her head still foggy from the exhaustion.

"Actually, you lost… but you did bring it to a draw…" Ino commented.

"Oh… I see… that is actually very nice…" Sakura commented her expression a bit more groggily joyful. "So? Did I miss any matches?"

"Umm… they just finished cleaning up the mess you made in the last fight… "Ino informed.

"Alright everyone… *cough cough* now that the stage is set… time to see who goes next…" Hayate announced.

Everyone then looked back up to the screen, watching as the names blinked by in random order. Finally, it landed on two, and the results gave mixed feelings among many.

**Sasuke Uchiha**

**Vs.**

**Ino Yamanaka**

Ino was freaking out. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to quit the prelims before even getting a chance to fight, but she also didn't want to face her academy crush. This literately made a huge tear in her carefully laid plans. She was almost tempted to outright forfeit, but then she would be seen as a pathetic Kunoichi if even Sakura was willing to fight to the end. She was beside herself. Not only that, but she knew she didn't stand a chance against Sasuke, especially after his display of power against the Sound Genin. Ino and her team could barely face them, but Sasuke single handedly took on all three. Ino knew she was weak, and she knew that Sasuke was probably the strongest in the group of the Rookie 9. She knew she was out matched.

Shikamaru couldn't help but sigh. 'Damn… and Ino was looking so pumped earlier… this match is not going to go well for her…'

Suddenly, Ino flinched as she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to the smiling bearded face of Asuma, giving her a confident smile. "Do your best Ino."

At that moment, she couldn't help but feel a little better, and started to walk down to the floor for her match, a little more willing to fight now.

Shikamaru then gave a sigh. "She isn't going to fight at her fullest in this one… she's too hesitant thanks to her crush… it's troublesome…" Shikamaru stated to Asuma.

"I know… I've seen the notes Iruka gave me… But I am hoping this might either push her above her academy crush, or show her that sometimes, one will have to make tough decisions… I honestly believe you guys are fit for Chunin status… you just have to be willing to make sacrifices for it…" Asuma responded.

"Sigh… Well, maybe if we're lucky, your plan will pan out, Sensei…" Shikamaru responded.

Sasuke began to walk down the stairs, but was stopped by Sakura. "What is it Sakura?"

"Sasuke… I… I don't know how to ask this… but… please don't be too hard on Ino…" Sakura begged, her eyes showing great pains of emotion.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment, then looked at Ino, and then responded. "I won't make that promise…" Sasuke stated coldly, making Sakura flinch. Then suddenly, he gave off an annoyed sigh. "But I do promise I won't use 'that' on her… unless she pushes me to it…"

"Thank you Sasuke…" Sakura responded, glad that her former friend wouldn't get too grievously injured.

Sasuke was going to continue down the stairs, when suddenly, he was halted again, but this time by his sensei, Kakashi, who set his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Sensei?"

Kakashi gave Sasuke his infamous eye smile. "Good luck Sasuke…" Suddenly, Kakashi's eye expression became serious. He then leaned in toward Sasuke, close to his ear, and he began to whisper. "Also… I know about the curse mark… my suggestion to you… avoid using chakra, and avoid using your Sharingan in this match… otherwise… I will forfeit you…"

Sasuke couldn't help but inwardly chuckle. Sakura had confirmed to Sasuke that the hickey mark that the snake user had left on his neck had vanished, and ever since, his body had felt great. Whatever the mark was, Kakashi, or one of the higher up Shinobi, must know something about it, and must have found out about his somehow. However, it seemed that all of them believed he still had it, which means; he currently had an element of surprise. Oh, he knew he could still use his chakra, and his Sharingan, but against Ino, of all people to face, he honestly wouldn't need them or the new power he has obtained.

When Sasuke got down to the floor, whatever fire Ino had instantly vanished upon sight of his cold confident expression, as she nearly flinched when she saw him. 'Damn it! My hearts beating in my throat… Stop it… get your head on girl, you can do this…' Ino thought to herself, lightly smacking her own face.

"This is the second match of the preliminary rounds, are both combatants ready?" Hayate received a nod from both Sasuke and Ino. "Then let the match begin!" He stated, jumping back out of the combatant's ways again.

Ino instinctively jumped back, knowing that in a battle of Taijutsu, she wouldn't stand a chance against Sasuke. 'Not that I would want to hit him…' she thought to herself nervously. Then, a thought came to Ino. 'Sasuke has yet to see my **Mind Transfer Jutsu**... maybe I can catch him off guard with it, and use it to make him forfeit… then I won't have to worry about fighting him…'

Sasuke had chosen that moment to charge forward, catching Ino by surprise, and he managed to round house kick her in the gut, knocking her back a bit. Sasuke then charged again, and attempted to strike her across the face, however, Ino managed to see it coming, and ducked in time to avoid it. As she ducked though, Sasuke followed up with a knee kick to her chin, causing her to fall backward.

In the audience, many spectators were very disappointed with this match up.

"Damn… this is a slaughter… the Uchiha's really giving her the beat down… what a mismatch…" Kiba stated, almost feeling too bored to watch, but also glad his female teammate isn't the one down there. Others in the audience were saying the same things along those lines, and as for Ino's teammates, they looked nervously for her, knowing without a doubt that if Ino didn't start to take this match seriously, she was not only going to lose, but also possibly be hospitalized.

As for the in disguise Orochimaru, he was also pretty disappointed. 'I had hoped that young Sasuke would have faced a more challenging opponent that would have forced him to use his curse seal… instead, this match is not going to be very impressive…' Orochimaru then involuntarily yawned, just wanting this part to be gotten over with. 'Such a pity…'

Ino managed to get back up, and jumped back as Sasuke's foot nearly came down on her head. 'What was I thinking… even if he doesn't know about my Jutsu, he's not going to give me the opportunity to use it… and even if I do end up pulling it off, he won't stand still for it to effect him… and I'll only have one shot to use it… after that, I'll be left vulnerable… ' Ino ducked, avoiding a round house kick, but was tripped as Sasuke followed up with a sweep kick, knocking her on her back. Sasuke then reared his leg back, and then kicked Ino the stomach, pushing her back a bit more.

"You're making this more disappointing then it should be… either fight back, or give up… I am growing tired of wasting my time on you…" Sasuke stated.

Ino winced at the negative comment, and decided to try and give her best in this fight, even though she knew without a doubt she was going to lose. 'You heard him girl… either put up or shut up…' She thought to herself.

Ino then began to charge forward, cocking her fist back, aiming for Sasuke's head. Sasuke easily saw it coming, and simply slapped the punch away, deflecting it with ease. Sasuke then countered with a palm to Ino chin, catching her off guard and knocking her stumbling back.

"Your attack was too obvious to read… you should have used that obvious attack as a distraction from a real attack…" Sasuke berated, charging for Ino to take advantage of her stumble. He then next grabbed her by the wrist, and sweep kicked her again, positioning himself behind her as she lost her balance, locking her arm into a pronating wrist lock. "You also left yourself wide open…"

Ino gasped from the jolt of pain running up and down her arm from her wrist and bones straining against Sasuke's hold. She attempted to break out of the hold, but every force of resistance made it hurt more. She needed to think of a way to get him off her. 'Damn it… I didn't even get a chance to even pull anything off… Sasuke is too skilled for me to match in Taijutsu alone…' She winced in pain again, and suddenly, a stray strand of her hair fell out of place in front of her eye. At that moment, an idea hit her.

Leaning her head forward as far as she could, she allowed her ponytail to drop down in front of her face. She focused, knowing she would only be able to pull off what she was planning if Sasuke was caught off guard, she then whipped her head back, her ponytail flowing back, hitting Sasuke in the face, distracting him enough for her to kick back at him in the shin, forcing him to let go of her wrist. Ino was well aware of how long her hair was, and knew that it should have been long enough to be more then at arm's length.

This suddenly gave her an idea. Moving her hand quickly, she removed the small strap holding her hair, letting it all flow down from the ponytail. Sasuke recovered, and charged forward again. As Sasuke got near, Ino jerked her head around, bringing her long hair in front of her, and before Sasuke could react, he was suddenly hit by a punch to the gut from behind the long hair. He winced, but then attempted to kick Ino in the head, however, she backpedaled again, her hair flowing in front, covering her face. Suddenly, using the cover of her hair, she launched two throwing stars toward Sasuke, who reacted in kind by drawing his own Kunai, deflecting the projectiles. As he deflected them, Ino took that moment to run forward, her hair now covering her arms. Without hesitation, she threw a swipe at Sasuke, managing to strike him on the hand holding the Kunai, knocking it off, and then began to follow through with a barrage of combos, which included punches, kicks, and variant of other moves, now putting Sasuke on the defensive as he went to block each attack. Ino had managed to pull off a 16 hit combo before Sasuke finally caught her last attack by the fist, and used the opportunity to counter.

Keeping a tight hold on her hand, Sasuke proceeded to unleash a devastating combo of kicks and one handed punches to her, never letting go of her hand, her body flailing with the strikes.

Sasuke delivered one last powerful kick, knocking Ino toward the ground, finally letting go of her hand. He watched her fall to the ground, her hair covering the upper part of her body, and part of her face, and from the expression of her eyes, Sasuke could tell she was done.

"You did much better… however… you were still not a match for me…" Sasuke commented, turning to leave his opponent. "Face me again when you take being a Kunoichi as seriously as you just had…" He began to walk off, when suddenly…

"**Mind Transfer Jutsu!**" Ino's voice yelled out, and Sasuke turned around in time to see that from behind her hair, Ino had made a hand sign, and before he react, he suddenly blacked out, stumbling forward a bit, while Ino completely passed out.

Sasuke stood limp for a second, his body just standing there.

'Did she do it?' Shikamaru questioned himself.

'Sasuke!' Sakura looked to the field worried.

"Eh? What just happened?" Naruto questioned.

Then suddenly, Sasuke let off a smirk.

'Success!' Ino thought in Sasuke's body. 'Man, if I was a less decent woman, I could think of a few ways to enjoy this… however, I think this will have to do…'

Sasuke then began to raise his hand up. "I… Sasuke Uchiha… hereby sur…"

"Bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Naruto yelled out, anger on his face, gripping the side rail.

'Tch… what does he think he's doing?' Ino thought to herself.

"If you surrender asshole… I'm going to smack around your sorry ass all over Konoha and back again!" Naruto yelled out, his tightening grip on the side rail causing the metal to groan and bed to his finger's imprint.

'What's that idiot thinking insulting Sasuke like that? Well, it doesn't matter much… Sasuke can't hear him, and I am in control…' Ino thought to herself, a small cocky smirk forming on Sasuke's face.

"I… Sasuke Uchiha, do hereby… Urk!" 'What the…?'Ino mentally gasped.

Ino suddenly began to feel a mental struggle within. 'What? What's going on?' Suddenly, dark blue flames began to erupt from Sasuke's body, markings appearing on his body.

**Within Sasuke's mind… **

"What the…? What is going on here?" Ino yelled out inside Sasuke's mind. Suddenly, blue flames erupted in front of her, and a great wind began to kick up, pushing Ino out. "I can't keep my mental hold on him! GAH! I'm losing my grip… YAAAH!" She was then flung from Sasuke's mind by a powerful gust of wind.

**Real World**

"Gah!" Ino cried out as she suddenly reawaken. 'He was strong enough to mentally push me out? But how?'

Sasuke's body began to revert back to normal, and he then next charged for Ino, not going to give her a chance to launch that Jutsu again. Using his momentum, he launched a fist to Ino's stomach, causing her to recoil and fly backward until her whole body hit the wall. At that moment, Ino was tittering on the edge of passing out, and as she fell back toward the ground, her vision darkening, her consciousness began to slip.

"Better luck next time…" Sasuke stated, watching her as she fell.

'You tried Ino… you put up a hell of an effort… I'm proud of you…' Ino's Sensei Asuma thought to himself, watching her pass out.

'Not bad Ino… not bad at all…' Shikamaru thought.

'You actually made a splendid effort Ino… I could tell you really knew you were going to lose regardless… but you still pressed on… that is so Beautiful…' Sakura thought to herself, happy for both of her friends, Sasuke for winning, and Ino for not getting too seriously hurt and trying her best.

'Well, I know I gave my best… only now, I'm kind of wishing I could have kept going…' Ino thought to herself as her vision was nearly black.

"_**Is that it? Is that how far your passion is going to take you? Well then, you shouldn't have even bothered with it then if aren't even planning on going all the way…**_" A voice said out loud to her. Suddenly, time seemed to freeze on the spot, her body still having not touched the ground yet. She looked around for the source of the voice.

**(Play song: The Golden Spider … from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

"_**Up here…**_" the voice said. She looked up, and nearly blanched as she suddenly saw a golden spider hanging by a thread in front of her face.

"BLAGH!" Ino freaked, somehow finding the energy to back away, repulsed by the spider. "Ew, Spider… ew ew ew…"

"_**Now that's just rude…**_" The golden spider commented, crossing its front legs as if it were crossing its arms.

"Ju-Just what the hell are you?" Ino screamed, her eyes wide.

"_**Me? I'm a figment of your imagination… but aside from that… I have to say, I am disappointed… earlier, you had such passion burning in your soul… now, it's practically like a candle in the wind…**_"

"Well what do you expect… Sasuke out ranks in every regard…" Ino commented.

"_**Makes you think you should have spent more time back at the academy training instead of just fawning over your crush all that time… then you might have had the strength for Sasuke to even consider you… you already have the beauty necessary to attract any man you could desire… but Sasuke's case, as well as any man who has jaded their heart, you will need strength as well…**_"

"It doesn't matter now… I'm beaten, I'm all out of comebacks… point is, I lost…"Ino commented.

"_**Not yet my dear… the judge hasn't made his verdict…you hold such great passion… your heart and soul is filled with it… you hold great love for not just your aspirations, but also for those who are close and that you care for…Tell me… who do you admire?**_"

"Sasuke…" Ino stated, answering it from the top of her head.

"_**Hmm… really now?**_" the Spider inquired, however, it decided to not to prod, and continued talking. "_**I guess that will have to do for now… so… who does Sasuke desire? Does he have eyes for you? Or for your pink haired, Sakura?**_"

At that moment, Ino really began to think hard about it, and while she does have great feelings for Sasuke, Sakura is positioned on a team close to him. Currently, Sakura had the advantage.

"_**So… what will you do?**_" the Golden Spider waited for her answer, but when she didn't respond, he continued. "_**Okay then… I'll give you a hint… Your very passion and desire is very great. Mesh them together, and make Sasuke notice you, notice your body and your heart…**_"

**(Play song: Limits… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

At that moment, Ino's heart began to swell within her bosom, and the fires of her heated passion began to flare up again. Time then began to flow again, the spider vanishing, and as it did, a pink energy began to flow from her body.

'What's this now?' Asuma and his team all thought out at once, now looking with wide eyes down at their female teammate.

Orochimaru though, looked on with interest. 'So… it seems that Danzo's little project wasn't a complete failure after all… this changes things a bit… I wonder how Sasuke will fare against one who can wield the power of Mantra… Kukukukuku…'

The energy was flowing out so rapidly, that the bandages that were wrapped around her stomach and hip areas ripped and came undone. On her flesh started to flow around lightly dark pink markings that appeared on her hips, legs, shoulders, and stomach, but none of it appearing on her face. On her hands suddenly appeared some silver colored gauntlets that covered her arm warmers, and on her legs, a pair of silver colored high heeled shoes covered the entirety of her leg up to her knees. Her hair remained long and out, but now was flowing almost like it was a liquid streaming downward. Ino couldn't explain it, but she felt… gorgeous.

Suddenly, the pink flowing energy flowing from her body began to take a different hue, reshaping into what one could only be described as a bunch of pink Carnation flowers forming behind her. Suddenly, everyone in the room could suddenly feel something very wrong.

'My… my heart… it's beating a mile a minute… What's going on?' Asuma thought to himself, a blush appearing on his face caused from the rapid beating of his heart.

'Wow… Ino looks so amazing…' Choji thought, his body feeling like he just ate a whole box of chocolates, which he has done before, feeling like he was having a sugar rush.

'Why am I feeling this… my heart is beating like crazy…' Shikamaru thought, trying to shake it off, a blush on his face. 'It's whatever it is she is doing… it's making my heart race…'

'Beautiful Ino… quite a lovely display…' Sakura thought to herself, actually not upset that Ino looked as such, a blush forming on her face. The thoughts of many present in the room were along these lines of thinking, even among the female members.

'Damn it… Okay, now I know something is up… first with Naruto, then with me, that was okay and all… but now, Sakura and Ino? Something is definitely going on!' Sasuke thought to himself, also affected by the wave of lustful feelings, trying desperately to push the feelings back.

Ino looked at herself, amazed with what happened. 'I don't know what this is… but I like it… and speaking of things I like…'

"**Oh Sasuke-kun…**" she said in a sing song tone.

"Yeah…" Sasuke asked, trying desperately to reel in his body's obvious reactions.

"**I have a proposition for you... or more accurately, a wager… How about this… if you win, then I'll stop chasing you, and I won't ever bother you again unless it is for a mission…**" Suddenly, her eyes took on a more predatory glint. "**However… if I win… you have to go on a date with me for a whole month… to any place I desire…**"

Sasuke was going to flat refuse, but suddenly, he blurted out his answer, as if he couldn't fully control his own actions. "V-very well… I accept…" 'What the hell did I just agree to… shit, she's doing this to me… it is as if she is playing with my body's emotion…'

"**Oh, that makes me so excited! I can't wait… first, I think we'll go out for a romantic stroll, then, we'll go see a movie together…**" Ino began to ramble on, her mind already thinking she had already won.

'Although, I don't think she is aware she can manipulate me… I'll have to take full advantage of that… I can't waste time going on a date… especially with her of all people.' Sasuke observed his opponent, wary of her new power. 'I'll try and see if I can face her as is… after all, new power or not, she is still Ino.'

Sasuke then charged full sprint forward, jumping into the air to deliver an aerial spin kick to Ino's head. Ino, still distracted by herself imagining of dating Sasuke, didn't take notice of Sasuke until his foot was inches from her face. She flinched at the oncoming attack, and Sasuke's foot collided with her cheek, the image of the carnations fading. Ino then opened her eyes, slightly surprised, as she barely felt that hit; in fact, she felt more like someone just slapped her more than kicked her, her cheek feeling a slight sting.

'Crap… forgot, much more resilient…' Sasuke cursed himself as he jumped back out of her reach. 'It would be a lot simpler if I wasn't banned from using my Jutsu or my Sharingan…' Sasuke mentally cursed, his eye peeking up at Kakashi, who despite the appearance of his attention being on a porno book, noticed that his full attention was actually on the match.

"**This power is amazing… I have never felt this good…**" Ino stated, admiring her new strength. She then turned her gaze back to Sasuke. "**Now… as I was saying… I am looking forward to this date, Sasuke-kun…**" She then reached into her Kunai pouch, and suddenly, within her hand, the pink energy began to wrap around the Kunai, and began to reshape it. When it was done, the Kunai had changed into a flower hilted curved dagger made of a silver colored substance. "**Holy crap! How'd I do that?**" Ino questioned, shocked.

Sasuke then took her shock as an opportunity, charging forward, a kunai drawn and held in a reverse grip. Snapping out of her stupor, Ino quickly brought the curved dagger up to block the kunai, parrying Sasuke's advance back. Sasuke attempted again, only this time, his attack was met head on with Ino's dagger, his attack deflected again, but this time, with more forced behind the defense. Sasuke backed away, gripping his arm, as after meeting with Ino's dagger, the bones in his arm felt a bit jostled.

'Gah… my whole arm feels like its shaking… is this power so great, that even someone as untrained as Ino can become this strong?' Sasuke thought to himself.

Ino's teammates look on in shock, Asuma wondering when Ino learned to use this trick, and Shikamaru and Choji looking with recognition.

'I had originally thought that since Sasuke and Sakura were able to use this power, it was something their team learned to do from their Sensei… now though, Ino had never been able to use this power before… something is up…' Shikamaru thought to himself, now slightly worried for his female teammate.

Sasuke avoided another slash, his body beginning to wear down. He looked at his Kunai, which had started to become worn and chipped in certain areas from Ino's assault. 'Damn… at this rate, I'm going to lose to Ino of all people… since I can't use my Jutsu or Sharingan, I might as well try to use the new power to end this quickly…'

Sasuke then began to focus, trying to bring up the power from before. However, as he focused, suddenly, he felt nothing come up.

'What the…? What's going on?' Sasuke attempted again, receiving the same results. So distracted was Sasuke, he didn't take notice of Ino's charge until she was right in front of him, her dagger poised to swing at him. Reacting quickly, he brought his kunai up to block, but as he did, he could feel his entire body crumble and strain from Ino's strike, until he finally went flying in the opposite direction, until he landed on his back and slid on the ground a little bit away, nearly touching the wall when he finally stopped.

'Why? Why won't the power come to me again?' Sasuke thought, as attempted to get back up, his body seriously straining and aching. 'I was able to use it twice before… so how come I can't call on it now?'

Ino smirked, as she was almost feeling a drunken high on this power she was wielding. She almost didn't know her own strength at the moment. She was able to decimate someone like Sasuke so easily; she practically forgot that Sasuke was able to use this power as well. "**I am looking forward to this month…**" Ino said to herself, practically feeling giddy.

'I don't think my body can take another hit like that… unless I can use my power, I am done for…' Sasuke desperately tried to grasp the power within him, however, every time he had a hold on it, it slipped through his fingers. 'Come on! Why isn't it working?'

Ino then stared predatorily toward Sasuke. 'Time to end this, and get my reward…' She then charged forward, her dagger poised for the finishing blow.

Sasuke stared in horror, desperately calling on the power again and again. 'Shit! I went too easy on her, and now I am backed into a wall… I'm going to lose!' He closed his eyes, awaiting the pain that was going to follow his crushing defeat, when…

***Plop!***

Sasuke opened his eyes to find Ino face down on the ground, her appearance back to normal, as well as the Kunai that turned into a dagger, completely knocked out. Sasuke stared, confused, until remembered that every time he and Naruto would use the power, their bodies would shut down on them, which he guessed for Ino, she must have ran out of power, and so, the same thing must have happened to her. He took a huge of relief, glad he was able to outlast Ino and her power, even though every bone and muscle tendon in his body was lingering in pain.

Hayate took a closer look at Ino, and then raised his arm. "*Cough* The victor by knockout, Sasuke Uchiha…"

'That was way too close… there is a lot about this new power I am unaware of… as soon as I get a moment for training, I'm going to find out everything I can about this power…' Sasuke thought to himself, already beginning to limp up to the stands, feeling good enough to stay, while Ino was grabbed by her teammates, checking to see if she was alright, and finding her only sleeping. 'I could really use a nap now myself…' Before Sasuke could make it to the stands, he was intercepted by his Sensei, Kakashi, who placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Good job Sasuke… especially going the whole fight without using either your Sharingan or any Jutsu whatsoever. Now… about that mark on your neck… I will need to see you about it from the side…" Kakashi whispered.

Feeling annoyed and irritable, Sasuke really didn't want to deal with this and his Sensei at the moment, so, having enough of the secret as it almost cost him the match, he pulled down his shirt collar, and showed his bare shoulder to Kakashi, whose visible eye widened when all he saw were two scabs where Orochimaru had bitten him, and that was it.

"What? It's not there..? But how?" Kakashi whispered harshly.

"I'll tell you more about it after the Preliminaries… right now… I really could use a nap for a bit…" Sasuke stated, walking past Kakashi, dragging himself toward his other two teammates, Kakashi watching his back in concern.

'Was Anko's theory wrong? Or did Orochimaru fail at placing a curse mark on Sasuke? I will definitely have to talk with Sasuke after this…' Kakashi thought to himself.

'I wonder what that was that Ino just displayed… I've never seen her use any technique like that before. Also, I thought the Yamanaka mostly focused on mind based techniques… this is very concerning…' Asuma thought to himself, already lighting a cigarette and smoking on it.

'Just like Sasuke and Sakura… she passed out just as the power gave out on her… now I know there is a connection… whatever is going on, I'm going to have to keep my eye open to get to the bottom of it… so Troublesome…' Shikamaru thought, groaning to himself from the extra work he would have to end up doing for his comrades. Then a thought hit him. 'Wait… does that mean that Naruto might have this power as well? And if so, who else might end up with it… which means, this Chuunin exam may just be more trouble than I original thought… Why me…?'

Orochimaru stared at Sasuke, an intrigued look on his face. 'Hmm… it seems that even with the body accepting Mantra, it comes as a shock to a human's system in which it ends up shutting down after the use… interesting…'then, the intrigued look turned to one of disappointment, and he began to make his leave, having no more interest in the exams. 'But still, I had hoped that the introduction of Mantra would have forced Sasuke to use the Curse Seal… how disappointing that it went out before that could happen. Oh well… it does not matter… Sasuke-kun will come to me eventually… Kukukuku…' And so, Orochimaru left the exam tower, other tasks to take care of.

When Sasuke made it to his two team mates, he sat down with his back slumped against the wall.

"What the hell…? You almost got your ass kicked Sasuke…" Naruto stated jokingly.

"Shut up idiot… I'm not in the mood…" Sasuke grumbled, resting his head against the wall.

"Sasuke…" Sakura began, her face taking on a serene expression. "Thank you for holding back on my friend… you did very beautifully…" Sakura stated.

"Who said I was holding back…?" Sasuke mumbled to himself, a scowl forming on his face. 'I may have won the fight… so how come I feel like a loser…' Sasuke looked down at his hand. 'This power… until I can figure it out, it is unreliable… and best not to put my full faith into it until I can figure out how it works…' Sasuke thought. After that, Sasuke began to fall asleep, the pain of his body finally taking its toll.

After all that was finished, Hayate went back to the center of the stage. "Attention, time to see our next two combatants…"

The screen began to flash through many names, until it finally landed on two.

**Kiba Inuzuka**

**Vs.**

**Naruto Uzumaki**

**To be continued…**

**On the next Naruto's Wrath:**

For the first time in Naruto's life, he finally gets the chance to show his peers what he is truly capable of, and that he is more than they presume him to be. However, is it possible that in the midst of battle, one can gain a rival's respect? If so, then a rival can only show that person their respect by not holding anything back…

**Next time: A Violent Wrath**

**Gohma Index:**

**Gohma Howler:** Small Gohma that run rampant throughout the land. They resemble monkeys, and commonly appear in packs. Each pack is made up of a primary Howler and lesser Howlers.

**Height (At full Height):**

Lesser Howler: Approx. 2m  
>Primary Howler: Approx. 2.5m<p>

**Width:**

Lesser Howler: Approx. 2m

Primary Howler: Approx. 2.5m

**Impurity Level: 32**

* * *

><p><strong>Nobody: Well… there you go… hope this chapter was satisfactory… <strong>

**Also, the DLC was epic! A Truly epic ending for Asura's Wrath… and gives openings for new possibilities… Also, don't worry folks, it hasn't impacted any changes to my plans for this story, as it actually fits along with how things are sort of going… although, I will say, I swear I think I saw some Gurren Lagann inspired moments near the ending… Anyway… time for some challenge concepts.**

**1****st**** challenge…**

**Challenge Title: **Bleached Wrath

**X-over: **Bleach/Asura's Wrath

**Summary: **In a world where battles are fought among the dead, an ancient Wrath shall awaken, showing all the plains of existence the power of one's rage.

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **A. Asura awakens in the world of Bleach (at anytime during the series at either Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, or Karakura Town), and does what he does best in a world of the corrupt.  
>or<br>B. When Ichigo first gets his Shinigami powers, or when he loses them, and gets them back, he ends up with Asura's powers instead... or with Asura as his Zanbaktou instead of Zangetsu...

Concept suggested by kyrogue23.

**2****nd**** challenge…**

**Challenge Title: **Wrath Bender

**X-over: **Asura's Wrath/Avatar (The last Airbender or the Legend of Korra)

**Summary: **Within a realm where humans are capable of bending the very elements, and where one human is charged with bringing balance to all… what would the involvement of Wrath Mantra have on the Elemental Nations?

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **Well, you can either have Asura awaken in the world of the benders… and take part in whatever plot you feel he would have the most impact in. Or, you can have a character that isn't the Avatar gain the power of Wrath Mantra, or one of the other Mantra affinities. Concept Suggested by The Infamous Man.

**Again... **Let me know if any of you wish to try these challenges out. Also, if you want, I am also willing to provide advice for these challenges if asked…  
><strong>**

**Well… there you go… hope this all was good… give a review if you liked it.**

**Signed,  
><strong>**Mr. Nobody**


	5. A Violent Wrath

**Nobody: Well… here is the next chapter… hope you guy's enjoy this one… also, expect chapters to be updated very slowly… and at random… enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: A Violent Wrath**

Sasuke had passed out after his match, a subtle snore coming from his nose as he slept. As for Ino, because her injuries were minor as well, her teammates managed to drag her back up to the stands, and laid her against the wall, out of the way. Everyone then waited for the next contestants to be called, and as they waited for the screen on the board call out the two next combatants, many thoughts were running through their heads.

'Call me next, call me next!' Lee thought to himself, eager to fight.

'Knowing my luck, it will call me next… troublesome…' Shikamaru thought to himself, a dour expression on his face.

'Please don't pair me and my teammates against that psycho Suna Shinobi…' Kiba thought to himself nervously.

'As long as I finally get picked, I don't care who I have to face…!' Naruto thought to himself, determination in his eyes.

Everyone looked up to the screen, watching as the names blinked by in random order, until finally, it settled on two contestants.

**Kiba Inuzuka**

**Vs.**

**Naruto Uzumaki**

"Alright! Finally! I get to fight!" Naruto yelled out excitedly.

"Yes! We get to fight the idiot! What a lucky break!" Kiba exclaimed.

Kakashi then walked up to Naruto, placing his hand on his student's shoulder. "Show them what you can do…" He stated, attempting to encourage Naruto.

Naruto smirked, and was about to run down, when Sakura stepped in front of him, a weird expression on her face, as if she was admiring him. "Do your best..." She stated.

Naruto, slightly confused, wrote it off, and continued down the stairs anyway. "Uh… thanks Sakura…" he called back.

Sakura didn't know why, but for some reason, she felt her perception on things around had changed. She was seeing the world differently, and was able to spot the beauty in everything, as well as the ugliness as well. When she saw Naruto again, she began to notice of things she couldn't but admire about him. Granted, she still saw some things to admire about Sasuke, however, her eyes were truly opened to things around her, and she was feeling a bit high on it.

"Alright Akamaru! You ready for an easy win!" Kiba yelled out. *Bark* was the canine's response. "Alright then, let's go kick his ass!"

Both contestants then stood facing each other on the stage, both with cocky grins plastering their faces.

"This is the third match of the preliminary rounds, are both combatants ready?" Hayate received a nod and a cocky smirk from both contestants. "Then let the match begin!" He stated, jumping back out of the combatant's ways again.

Naruto then took a fighting stance. "Prepare to get whooped Kiba!"

"Dream on, brat… like I'm going to get beat down by the class idiot…" Kiba stated.

"Well, this class idiot has learned a few new tricks… let me show you!" Naruto then closed his eyes, and began on focusing on bringing the power from earlier to the forefront, calling upon it again, wanting to start this fight with it right on the bat. He continued to focus and strain, Kiba watching and waiting to see what the 'idiot' was going to pull off.

"I'm waiting…" Kiba stated.

Naruto kept focusing, harder and harder, until…

*Poot*

Naruto's face contorted in surprised embarrassment, and everyone who knew Naruto in the room couldn't help but sweat drop from the embarrassing sound his body had just made.

'That is embarrassingly disgusting…' Sakura thought, her face contorted in embarrassment.

"Is that it? Gross man…" Kiba stated in monotone with a dour look on his face.

"S-Shut up! That isn't what I was trying to do jerk!" Naruto yelled out, his face becoming red.

"Whatever… You know what, Akamaru and I ain't going to hold back… Let's go Akamaru!"Kiba yelled to his partner, tossing him a round pill, which Akamaru consumed, his fur turning red, Kiba also consuming a pill himself. "**Man-Beast Mimicry!**"

Then, in a puff of smoke, Akamaru turned into an exact duplicate of Kiba, both standing symmetrical to each other.

"What the…?" Naruto stated, caught off guard by Kiba's technique.

Kiba and Akamaru then charged forward, both maneuvering in different patterns, throwing Naruto off. Kiba then came in with a swipe to Naruto's face, Naruto barely dodging it by backing off. This was soon followed by a swiping kick from Akamaru, Naruto barely responding in time to jump, however, Kiba took advantage of Naruto's jump to punch him straight in the face, sending Naruto sprawling back, Akamaru jumping into the air to finish with a heel drop kick to Naruto's gut. Akamaru then moved away from Naruto's prone form, walking back to Kiba.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be… I had hoped he would have at least put up some kind of effort though…"Kiba stated, looking somewhat disappointed.

"Grr… I'm not done yet asshole…" Naruto groaned, standing back up to his feet.

"Well alright then…" Kiba feral smirked. "Bring it on!"

"**Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto yelled out, holding his hands in the ram seal. Suddenly, the room filled up with 150 clones, all of them either forming a circle around Kiba and Akamaru or standing on the walls and ceiling with chakra, both Kiba and his partner surprised by this move. They were not the only ones surprised as many people in the room were equally surprised by Naruto's feat.

'Impossible! A Genin knowing such an advanced Jutsu… and not only that, but to be able to make so many clones? That's even more than what a Jonin can make!' Kurenai thought to herself.

"What the…? When could you make so many clones?" Kiba yelled out.

"That's none of your business!" One clone yelled out. "You should be more concerned that we're about to kick your ass!" Another yelled out. And then, the mass fighting began.

One clone charged for Kiba, managing to punch him in the face, but Kiba retaliated by grabbing that clone's head and kneeing him in the face, causing it to puff into smoke. Akamaru ducked away from one clone's jump kick, and then sweep kicked him to the ground, following up with a heel drop, dispersing the clone. Another clone tried to drop onto Kiba from the roof, but Kiba spotted him, and grabbed him, slamming the head of that clone into another oncoming clone, dispersing them both. Two more clones jumped down from the ceiling, aiming for Akamaru, but the dog turned human jumped to meet them mid flight, and grabbed the two clones by the shoulders, climbing up their bodies, and grabbing them by the legs, holding them like this the rest of the way down until they hit the ground, crashing into three more clones, dispersing all of them. One clone managed to try and tackle Kiba from the front, but Kiba slammed his elbow into the clone's head, dispersing it just before another clone tried to take a swipe at him, avoiding the punch to his face. Another clone tried to grab Akamaru from behind, holding him in a headlock, but Akamaru, as a dog, did what was natural, and bit the arm holding him with such force that the clone dispersed.

Two more clones managed to catch Kiba off guard, one managing to kick him in the face, the other to managing to tackle Kiba to the ground from behind. Akamaru went to try and help his partner out, but another clone managed to kick him in the back of the leg while another body slammed into him, and then a few more clones began to pile on top of him and Kiba, restraining both Kiba and Akamaru's movements. Soon, all the rest of the Naruto clones began to dog pile on top of Kiba and Akamaru, creating a huge pile of Clones over top of the two canine fighters.

"Do you give now dog breath?" A Naruto clone close to Kiba yelled out.

"*Snort*… I have to admit… not bad brat…" Kiba stated with a strained smirk. "However… Akamaru and I have yet to really pull out all the stops... NOW AKAMARU!" Kiba yelled out.

Suddenly, the clone pile up began to bulge a bit, and in an instant, all the clones were sent flying from the huge pile as a spinning mass came from Kiba and Akamaru's positions. "**Fang over Fang!**" The two spinning masses then began to encircle each other, moving across the stadium, hitting many of the Naruto clones along the way, causing them to disperse.

Kiba and Akamaru stopped spinning, and landed on the ground, seeing there were now only 3/4s of the Naruto clone's there were before.

"Charge!" One Naruto clone yelled, and the huge army jumped forward toward Kiba and his partner, like a tidal wave of Ninja coming down onto Kiba and Akamaru's position. Both Kiba and Akamaru shifted their stances, standing symmetrical to each other, and like a switch, bounded off each other, and began to spin wildly, like a controlled tornado toward the wave of Shinobi clones, piercing right into the wave, breaking it apart, many Clones dispersing, and the rest falling down like rain toward the ground, dispersing many of them, while others managed to catch themselves before they landed.

The army of clones grouped back together, and charged forward toward the two canine partners together, this time making random maneuvers to avoid all of them getting hit this time. A large group of clones began to charge at Kiba and Akamaru, grabbing onto them at different points, grabbing their legs, arms, and torsos. The pile up began to increase again, trying to overwhelm both Kiba and Akamaru with sheer numbers; however, both Kiba and Akamaru were trained for close range combat.

"**Fang over FANG!**" Kiba yelled out, and both Kiba and Akamaru spun around again, causing the pile of clones to explode outward, clones flying in different directions again as the twin tornados tore through a large mass of the clone army.

Many people observed the situation with similar reactions.

'Well… he sure pulled a surprise with the clones… but I should have known he couldn't make it last…' Tenten thought to herself, slightly disappointed.

'It doesn't matter what futile efforts he makes, he will still fail…' Neji thought with superiority.

'Well… I guess the old man was putting too much hopes in that kid… shame…' Asuma, the Sensei of Team 10, thought to himself, puffing out on his cigarette.

"While it's impressive he can summon that many clones… it's pointless if he doesn't know what to do with them in the first place…" The Suna Kunoichi, Temari, stated out loud, her brother Kankuro and her Sensei agreeing with her.

Many of the opinions of the audience fell along these lines, much disappointment and underestimating in Naruto's abilities.

When Kiba and Akamaru finished their spin around, they managed to reduce all the clones down to just the real Naruto, and they ended up landing a critical blow to him, Kiba first striking Naruto in the stomach with his attack, and then followed up by Akamaru striking Naruto from behind. Naruto landed on the ground with a heavy thud, his body battered and beaten. But despite his injuries, Naruto began to shakily get back up, wobbly on his feet but refusing to back down.

Kiba stared at Naruto with a disappointed look. "I will admit… that clone ability was fun to deal with… and it really caught me by surprise… but if that is the only trick you got up your sleeves, then you should just throw in the towel right now…"

Naruto set his foot down on the ground, and glared at Kiba, not wanting to back down in the slightest. Kiba's response was to start to spin his body again, along with Akamaru, and while Naruto managed to avoid the first spiraling Tornado by side stepping, he got hit by the second, sending him into the air again, and hitting the ground with another thud. Kiba then stopped spinning to look at his downed opponent, his scowl deepening.

"Seriously… after all this time out of the academy… and aside from that clone Jutsu, you haven't changed one bit…" Kiba stated. Naruto then began to get back up to his feet again.

"Shut… up…" Naruto breathed out, his eyes narrowing with anger.

Again, Kiba responded by using his Taijutsu technique, spinning at Naruto with Akamaru, this time both attacks managing to hit Naruto, sending him not just once in the air, but twice, rocketing him into a wall.

"I know I have been training ever since we graduated from the academy, perfecting my techniques and partnership with Akamaru… as for you… what have you been doing all this time? Nothing but D-Ranks or something? You're still the same idiot brat that would pull pranks in order to get attention…" Kiba growled out. Naruto started to get back up again. Kiba looked at him with annoyance. "I had at least thought you would have gotten a bit stronger with all the time we had… but you're still pathetic!" Kiba then charged forward, this time running up to Naruto, punching him in the gut, then in the face, pushing him against the wall. "Akamaru and I worked our tails off… trying to be the best! And you! You're still the brat from the academy! You have Clones to work with, yet you don't even utilize them right! Akamaru and I know that quantity doesn't equal Quality, and so, we both utilized our team work to work for us! You! You just try to overwhelm you opponent with numbers!" Kiba then grabbed Naruto's head, slammed his face into his knee, and then tossed him over his shoulder to the center of the stage. "Grow Up!"

Naruto laid on the ground a bit, having a harder time still trying to get up again, leaning on his knees and his forehead as well has his hands to get up.

"Back in the academy, you claimed you were going to become Hokage! How do you hope to accomplish that if you haven't even made a big difference in yourself?" Kiba yelled out.

Naruto managed to get up again, but as soon as he got up, Akamaru came from behind with the **Fang over Fang**, and knocked him back down again.

'_**You're always saying you're going to become Hokage… like that will ever happen Fox Brat**_**!**' a voice from the past rang in Naruto's head, showing the image of Mizuki taunting him. Naruto struggled to get back up again, but Kiba and Akamaru came back at him with their attack, being relentless.  
>'<em><strong>Can you imagine the disaster if he became a Ninja…?<strong>_' another degrading voice this time the woman from when he failed his exam for the third time in a row. Naruto tried to get to his knees, but again Kiba and Akamaru did not let up, sending him into the air, blood beginning to fall to the ground.  
>'<em><strong>What's wrong, afraid? Scaredy cat!<strong>_' Sasuke's voice rang out in his head, egging him on.  
>"Shut… Up…" Naruto growled out as he stood up, but was sent flying again via Kiba and Akamaru.<br>'_**You have no idea what it means to be a Shinobi brat**_**…**' The voice of Zabuza rang out, his face glaring down on him like he was a child.  
>"I said… shut… UP!" Naruto snarled this time, refusing to stay down, his temper flaring.<p>

"You're so weak, you should just stay down and give up… it will save you a lot of pain…" Kiba stated.

'You're wrong Kiba… Naruto would never give up…'Hinata thought to herself, watching with sorrowful eyes upon the match. 'Naruto just doesn't know the meaning of the word quit… no matter what you do… he'll just keep getting back up…'

"You think… you know me… asshole?" Naruto stated, raising himself back up. "You don't know a thing about ME!"

"Just roll over and give up! I've won this match! Admit defeat!"Kiba yelled out, charging toward Naruto, already starting his technique again, Akamaru on the other side of Naruto, following Kiba's example. As they spun forward, planning on delivering the finishing blow to Naruto, Naruto stood there, teeth gritted, and his body suddenly beginning to erupt with red energy, black markings appearing on his flesh again, his arms getting covered in the metallic silver substance up to his elbows again. Naruto took a horse stance, planting his feet into the ground, Kiba and Akamaru coming at him from both his sides.

"THIS WILL END IT!" Kiba yelled out as they got closer to impacting Naruto. Suddenly, the twin tornadoes were caught in Naruto's metallic hands, instantly stopping the rotation of Kiba and Akamaru, both of them being held by their hands.

Naruto opened his eyes, revealing them to be blood red slits, his face contorted into a snarling primal anger.

"**Grr… I said…**" Naruto lifted both Kiba and Akamaru by their arms into the air with ease. "**SHUT… UP!**" He then slammed them both into the ground, cracking the tiled floor with the impact.

This transformation in Naruto caught a lot of people's attention, even Kakashi. So much so, Kakashi took off his head band, and revealed his Sharingan to see the finer details of this energy that his student Sakura displayed for a brief time, and what Ino had shown as well. That which Kakashi saw shocked him. 'What's going on? Naruto's never displayed this kind of power! Whatever it is, it isn't chakra! What the hell is it?' He thought to himself.

The Suna Shinobi were also surprised, having never seen anything like this power before.

'The hell? Where did that runt get this strength?' Temari thought to herself.

'Man… I hope not all of Konoha can use this ability… or else the plan is sunk…' Kankuro thought to himself.

'This boy… he is someone I must kill to prove my existence… his blood will certainly please mother…' Gaara thought to himself, smirking devilishly at Naruto's power.

Hinata stared with surprise and worry, surprise for her crush, and worry for her teammate. 'I knew Naruto-kun had an ace up his sleeve… but this…? I hope Kiba and Akamaru will be okay…' she thought to herself, happy that Naruto had gained the upper hand.

Kiba and Akamaru both moaned from the spot on the ground. Without even glancing at them, Naruto grabbed them by the back of their heads, slammed their heads together, and then slammed them into the ground again, and began to drag them both along the tiles by their faces, creating a small trench along the tiled floor. He then stopped, pulled them both back, their face showing blood and agony, and then with brutal strength, tossed them both toward the Shinobi statue, imprinting them both into the stone shoulders. Both Kiba and Akamaru dislodged from their imprints, falling forward toward the ground.

'I… I lost…' Kiba thought as he fell, slowly beginning to lose consciousness. Time seemed to slow down for Kiba, and as he fell, he looked around to see an almost unconscious Akamaru, who puffed back into his regular dog form the moment he crashed into the statue. He then spared a glance toward his teammates, looking to him in worry… well, Hinata and Kurenai looking in worry, Shino was as stoic as ever. Finally, he looked toward Naruto, who just looked very pissed at him. 'I underestimated him… it didn't occur to me he had something in the reserves… I held back, and he got the upper hand… I should have given all I had… I'm such an idiot!'

"_**No argument there…**_" A voice stated.

**(Play song: The Golden Spider … from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

Kiba's eyes widened in shock, and he looked up to see that time had halted around him, Akamaru the only other thing responsive at the moment. Akamaru then began to snarl, and so Kiba look toward where Akamaru was growling to see a Golden Spider hanging by a golden thread.

"_**I see even your dog lacks respect… well, they do say that a pet resembles the owner…**_" the spider stated.

Kiba growled at that. "Akamaru is my partner! Not my pet!"

"_**Indeed… you know, that's your problem… you never really learned to truly appreciate moments in life… you take everything so seriously…**_"

"Shut up! What do you know?" Kiba yelled out.

"_**I know enough to see a fool when one is hanging around… by the way things look, you still have some fight left in you… if only your body could keep with your spirit…**_"

"It doesn't matter now… I've lost… no way can I beat Naruto now… I've tried everything I got…" Kiba stated.

"_**Really? Is that everything you got?**_"

Kiba narrows his eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"_**You're still alive, aren't you? As long as you keep breathing, you shouldn't give up… you want to continue… I see it in your eyes! Even your companion wants to continue with you!**_" The spider indicates Akamaru. "_**If you still have the will, then keep fighting… Fight with every ounce of force you have…**_"

"…?"

"_**Force is violence… the supreme authority from which all authorities derive… Pure force and violence have resolved more issues in human history than anything else… that is a fact… you want to be respected… Naruto wishes to be respected… show him your respect by giving him you're all in this fight, and he and everyone else will show you theirs…**_"

Kiba didn't know why, but what this freaky spider was saying made a lot of sense. Not only that, but most of what he said was pretty much stuff Kiba already knew.

"_**To obtain respect… then use any amount of excessive Violence you can muster! But of course… I don't need to tell you that…**_" Suddenly, shot a thread of golden silk toward Kiba's right arm, and then linked it to the growling Akamaru. "_**This should also provide you with an added boost… use it well...**_" The thread then vanished, leaving only a gold mark on Kiba's wrist, the same mark on Akamaru's belly, which soon faded to silver.

The spider then vanished from sight, leaving Kiba with Akamaru, who were both hanging in the air. Suddenly, time seemed to begin to speed up again, catching both Kiba and Akamaru off guard, and causing them both to land flat on their faces. Kiba began to strain back to his feet, Akamaru also getting up on all fours. He looked toward Naruto, who was ready to charge at him again to finish the fight.

Then Kiba spoke out with a solemn expression. "Naruto!" This caught Naruto's attention. "I take it back… you have improved… sorry I have been underestimating you…" then Kiba's expression became feral. "I won't be making that mistake again!"

Naruto stared at Kiba, slightly confused, but then gave off his own feral smirk. "**Is that so? Then prove it!**" Naruto then took a fighting stance, his arms spread out.

"Alright… but just so you know… YOU ASKED FOR IT!" Suddenly, Akamaru jumped up onto Kiba's head, and a yellow colored energy began to flare out of both of them.

**(Play song: Retaliation… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

Then, a puff of smoke went off, and when it cleared, standing in Kiba and Akamaru's place was a taller young man with wild brown hair. The young man was shirtless, showing a well toned chest, and had patches of brown fur covering his body in certain patterns and markings, and he had a feral looking face with elongated canines and red markings on his cheeks. He wore a pair of red embroidered slacks with a blue sash wrapped around his waist. The most prominent feature of this young man was that his right arm was completely covered in white fur with silver markings and designs running through the fur and at where the forearm would have been was a large dog's head, the hand coming out of the fanged mouth, the right arm being longer and larger than the left, the left being covered in brown fur markings, a clawed hand at the end.

"**Woah… this is different…**" Kiba stated, staring down at his new body. "**Is that you Akamaru?**" Kiba asked, looking down at his arm. He received a bark as his response. "**I get it… this is kind of like that two headed wolf technique I've heard about… sweet…**" He then looked to his opponent with a feral smirk.

This new development now had many caught for a loop.

'Okay… this is getting ridiculous… first the two Kunoichi, then the Uzumaki boy… Now the Inuzuka? What kind of monsters are they?' Tenten frantically thought to herself.

'I kind of figured Naruto would have this power since both Sakura and Sasuke have it… but to see Kiba and Ino have it...' Shikamaru thought to himself. 'Eh… I'm probably over thinking this… after all, Ino does know Sakura, and Kiba and Naruto used to hang out… best not to get worried over nothing…'

"**Alright… time for round 2!**" Kiba yelled out, taking a stance with his huge arm extended.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk in excitement. Not only was his new power working, but also, he was facing another person who also had this power. He couldn't wait for this fight now. "**Let's see what you got Dog breath!**" Naruto yelled out, taking a stance as well, his fists clenched.

Naruto then slammed his fist into the ground, causing pieces to dislodge and stick out from the impact. He then kicked off those upturned pieces of debris, and sent them flying toward Kiba at a high speed like projectiles. Kiba, reacting quickly on instinct, raised his large arm in front of him, Akamaru's mouth closing over his hand, the fur beginning to bristle, expanding the width of the arm, barely shielding Kiba's body. Suddenly, the bristled fur changed into a silver substance, hardening the fur on the arm, and the arm managed to block and repel the large shrapnel pieces, the debris shattering upon impact with his silver furred arm.

"**Wow… I didn't even feel that! You okay boy?**" Kiba asked his partner. Akamaru gave a jovial bark as a response. "**Alright… this thing is stronger than I thought… let's see how it hits though boy!**" Kiba then charged forward, his arm pulled back, Akamaru's jaw opening to reveal Kiba's clawed clenched fist, the fur changing back to the its white coloring.

Naruto watched Kiba charged, Kiba's movements seeming slowed by the hulking arm, and so, Naruto charged forward as well, his own fist cocked back to meet Kiba's fist. "**Bring it on!**"

Both Kiba and Naruto's fist collided, a powerful boom sounding from the impact, both arms in a near deadlock.

This in turn caused Sasuke to awaken from his sleep with a start, wondering what was going on. He dragged himself up to the railing to see both Naruto and Kiba in their current state, and he started to look with interest now.

'Hmm… so the Inuzuka has the power now… why I am not surprised anymore… still… this should prove interesting to see two users of this power going at it… I just wish I knew how Naruto was able to activate it again…' Sasuke thought to himself.

Suddenly, Naruto's arm began to give way, being pushed back by Kiba's mighty arm, and Naruto was suddenly sent flying back, his body twirling in the air until he hit the wall, creating an imprint of himself.

"**Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!**" Kiba yelled, pumping his oversized arm.

Naruto managed to scrape himself from the wall, an annoyed look on his face. "**Ouch…**" Naruto stated, getting himself back to his feet, and taking his stance again. '**Okay… he packs a lot more punch this time around. Avoid that arm, got it…**'

Naruto then got back up, and charged forward again. Kiba went to slam down his giant arm, but Naruto sidestepped the attack, and managed to punch Kiba in the face. Kiba stumbled back a bit, dazed from the hit, but then recovered in time to move the oversized arm to catch Naruto's followed up spin kick to the face. Kiba then lifted Naruto into the air, and began to slam him continuously down into the ground multiple times, flailing Naruto about like a rag doll. When Kiba was finished flailing Naruto about, he tossed him toward the same spot in the wall Naruto was imprinted into earlier.

Naruto scraped himself out of the wall again, an even more aggravated expression on his face. "**Again… ouch…**"

Unfortunately, Naruto didn't catch sight of Kiba's charge in time, as Kiba had appeared in front of him, his giant fist cocked back again; ready to deliver another devastating hit. "**Come on Idiot! You can do better than that!**" His fist then went flying toward Naruto. Naruto looked up to see the fist coming, and suddenly, the fist was moving as if in slow motion, and reacting quickly in time, Naruto brought his hands up to attempt to catch the fist, a huge explosion of dust and debris erupting outward as a result.

When the dust cleared, it revealed Naruto was holding Kiba's massive fist back by the wrist, both combatant's arms audibly straining, Naruto's body implanted even deeper into the wall.

Many formerly composed competitors began to nervously sweat, even the most coolheaded starting to become nervous.

'What is this? They were both down and out… but now… this power… whatever it is, it's dangerous…' Neji thought nervously. He then quickly composed himself. 'Of course… it is not like they will win against me… fate has decreed once a failure, always a failure… the same will go for them…'

"**Much better idiot… I'm starting to have some fun…**" Kiba stated with a strained feral grin, as he continued to push forward his attack, Naruto resisting.

"**Shut up jerk… grr…**" Naruto growled as he pushed on Kiba's arm, soon shifting his legs to help push the heavy arm off his body. Kiba seeing this, opened his fist and grabbed Naruto by his shirt, and pulled him out, tossing Naruto into the air.

"**My Fang over Fang was strong before… but let's see how it does in this form! FANG OVER FA…**" Kiba attempted to spin his body, but he soon tripped over his massive arm, rolling over head over heels. "**Damn… my body's not used to this heavy thing yet… Guess I'll have to just do it the old fashioned way!**" Kiba yelled out, cocking his fist again, and charging for Naruto's falling form.

"**Like I'm going to give you that chance!**" Naruto then put his hands together, forming a familiar hand sign. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto yelled out. However, nothing happened. "**Eh? What the hell? Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" He tried again, but still, nothing happened. It was like he could feel the chakra in his system, but it was buried underneath the power he was using, and he couldn't bring it to the surface without as much effort as before.

Sasuke stared down in interest at that moment. 'So you can't use Jutsu in this form… I better keep that in mind for the future…' Sasuke thought to himself.

Before Naruto could rethink his strategy, Kiba's fist came into his peripheral view, and reacting quickly, Naruto brought his silver coated arms up in time to take the full brunt of the attack, sending him flying back again, his feet skidding across the ground a few feet until he stopped. Naruto looked toward Kiba, and then looked down at the upturned flooring. Naruto then slammed both his hands into the ground, and with a great heave, managed to pull two huge chunks of stone out, his fists buried in the boulders like a pair of boxing gloves. Naruto then charged forward, his left arm cocked back, ready to slam the piece of debris into Kiba.

Kiba, seeing the large chunk of rock coming at him, quickly put his arm up, the fur bristling again and turning silver again. The rock fist slammed into the Akamaru arm shield, breaking into chunks upon the initial hit. Naruto then cocked back the right arm, and swung it horizontally, slamming the large rock into Kiba's left side, smashing the rock apart, and knocking Kiba over. Kiba shook his head, feeling slightly dazed, but managed to bring his arm shield up in time to block Naruto fist, the blow pushing Kiba back a bit. Naruto then began to unleash a torrent of fists upon the shield, his mind thinking he would be able to break Kiba's guard, Kiba's feet entrenching into the ground. Kiba then took his left hand, and managed to punch Naruto into the side of his head, dazing Naruto a bit.

While Naruto was dazed, Kiba then switched the arm shield into the furry fist again, and taking aim, struck Naruto in his jaw with an uppercut. Naruto was sent flying straight into the air, and right through the ceiling, his body getting half stuck through the structure, his legs left dangling. Suddenly, large cracks began to appear throughout the roofing surrounding Naruto, and in the blink of the eye, a large portion exploded outward, Naruto's arm extended, and he let off a roar of frustration. Naruto then managed to grab a hold of the ceiling with his fingers embedding into the rock, holding himself upside down facing Kiba. Naruto tried to use chakra to hold himself on the ceiling, but again, it just wouldn't come to the surface past his new power. Forgetting it, he positioned his feet underneath himself on the ceiling, and then, tensing his leg muscles, he explosively launched himself downward toward Kiba, both of his arms cocked back to strike when in position, his body propelling downward as fast as a thrown shuriken.

Kiba watched as Naruto propelled down, and so, he reared his own huge fist back, and with a mighty heave, both Naruto and Kiba's fist collided, a shockwave emitting from the impact, knocking every Genin that was standing onto their rear, and shaking the legs of any standing Chuunin or higher to their knees.

'What Power!' Was the thought of many in the room.

Sakura though didn't look too surprised, and in fact looked enthralled in this fight. 'Hmm… while this fight could be better… it is very… exhilarating…' Sakura thought, putting her hand over her heart. 'Oh… to see these two clash with such a lovely display!' Sakura actually shuddered with pleasure. 'Beautiful!'

When the cloud cleared, it showed both Kiba and Naruto standing, facing each other, both with a look of steely resolve, but also both looking quite worn out.

'**This power is starting to run out… I have to end this now!**' Kiba thought to himself. Kiba then charged forward, his fist pulled back again, and aimed his fist toward Naruto's face. Naruto saw the attack coming, but his body was not responding, and so, he ended up getting punched square in the face, causing him to roll backward until he hit the wall again, and then fell to the ground. Kiba sighed in relief, thinking that may have ended it as Naruto wasn't moving yet. But, Naruto's body began to shift from the ground, Naruto's mouth snarling.

**(Play song: Asura Unleashed… from the Asura's Wrath OST)**

"**No… way…**" Naruto began to say, slowly managing to push himself back up to his knees. "**will… I…**" Naruto then began to rise up to his feet. "**QUIT!**" Naruto then fully stood up erect, his eyes blazing with rage filled resolve.

Within a sewer like location, behind a golden ornate cage that towered leagues high, two blazing red eyes began to shift open, taking notice of Naruto's response.

"**GAAAAHHH!**" Naruto cried out as suddenly his body began to erupt with the red energy, flaring out of his body like a bon fire, and soon, the markings on his flesh began to light up, turning a shade of neon red, and the silver gauntlets took on a shine, as if they were glowing. Naruto stared at Kiba, and Kiba stared back at him, both with looks of defiance.

At that moment, both Naruto and Kiba charged at each other, both not even bothering with a strategic plan of attack.

"**You're going down Jerk!**" Naruto yelled out.

"**Bring it brat!**" Kiba also yelled. '**I don't have enough time to go on the defensive… I can feel the power fading… time to go all out on the attack!**' He thought to himself.

Naruto then managed to punch Kiba in the face, who stumbled back from the hit. Kiba recovered and punched back with his own giant fist, hitting Naruto in the gut, however, Naruto didn't go flying back this time, and Naruto countered with a kick to the side of Kiba's head. Kiba gritted his teeth, and managed to catch himself before hitting the ground, and then retaliated with another punch from his huge arm, hitting Naruto in the gut while Naruto was in midair. Naruto recovered quickly though, and grabbed the arm that just punched him, and managed to twist his body in midair and pull Kiba over his shoulder, slamming his head into the ground.

Before Kiba could pull himself up off the ground, Naruto ran toward him, jumped into the air, grabbed Kiba's upturned legs, lifted him into the air, flipped him over Naruto's head, and then finally slammed Kiba full force face first into the ground. Kiba then managed to pull himself up, and as Naruto charged him again, Kiba then swung his fist around, striking Naruto back a ways.

Naruto and Kiba locked eyes on each other, and suddenly, energy exploded out of both combatants, Naruto flaring with red energy, and Kiba flaring with yellow.

"**Time we end this brat…**" Kiba growled out.

"**Something we can both agree on!**" Naruto growled back.

Kiba then shifted his stance, tensing his legs and cocking his fist back. Naruto also tenses his legs and cocks his fists back, both preparing to charge at each other. With explosive power, both fighters charged each other, and in that instant before Naruto's fist collided with Kiba's big one, they both stared each other down, both with looks showing neither one is going to back down.

Naruto slammed his fist into Kiba's, the impact causing a loud percussion. Naruto's arm then was being pushed back again, Kiba not relenting or giving up. So, thinking quickly, Naruto slammed his other fist into Kiba's fist, causing Kiba's advance to slow down. Naruto then slammed his other fist into the hand again, and again with the other, switching back and forth in rapid succession, roaring out as he did, starting to push Kiba's arm back. Suddenly, as Naruto's fist began to impact Kiba's, cracks were beginning to form on Naruto's silver coated arms, but Naruto continued his onslaught, not giving in. As for Kiba's arm, bloody gouges began to form on his knuckles and fingers, Kiba not giving in either though.

Naruto then slammed his left hand one last time into Kiba's fist, and held it there, keeping Kiba's arm held back with great difficulty. Naruto then held up his right opened hand, and slowly began to cock it back, and in an instant, he closed his silver fist, and sent it flying toward Kiba's fist, the attack causing an explosive shockwave that shook the entire tower, knocking everyone standing up down this time, even the Anbu who were in hiding, the explosion covering the arena floor in dust and smoke.

Everyone instantly tried to regain their composure to see the result of the fight, the dust starting clear up. When the dust finally settled, it revealed Naruto; his arm extended outward, the silver part of his arm cracking all over. Naruto looked on the edge of passing out, as his body was constantly struggling to stay up. When the dust cleared, it revealed on the opposite end of the arena, right up against the wall was both Kiba and Akamaru, both bloody and unconscious, back to normal save Kiba without his shirt on now.

"The winner by Knockout is Naruto Uzumaki…" Hayate yelled out.

The moment Naruto heard that he won, the silver pieces on his extended right arm suddenly shattered, revealing flesh under the metallic material, and soon following was the sound of bones breaking, all coming from Naruto's right arm, which soon went limp after all the markings and silver material vanished. Naruto then fell backwards and sprawled out onto the ground, exhaustion, fatigue, as well as pain finally kicking in as he slowly drifted to sleep.

Kiba's teammates went down to him to check to see if he and his partner were okay, only to find that both he and Akamaru were completely unconscious, and in need of medical care. Medical Shinobi came at that moment and checked Kiba's body, and then began to cart him away to the ER, keeping him stable, two more coming in to check on Naruto. Sakura and Kakashi had managed to come down to the floor to check to see Naruto's condition, and found he was very battered up, but okay. So, after the medics gave Naruto a quick patch repair job and a sling for his arm, Kakashi managed to carry the sleeping Naruto back up the stairs to their spot in the audience. When Sakura went to follow her Sensei back up the stairs, she was suddenly approached by Kiba's teammate, Hinata, who was looking nervous about something.

"Hinata? What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Umm… I… I was wondering if… you could… please give this to Naruto-kun… when he wakes up…" Hinata asked, stuttering and near mumbling in her speech pattern, holding up a small jar of herbal medical cream that could be used to heal both exterior laceration wounds and ease muscle pains.

'Naruto-kun?' Sakura thought bewildered. Sakura stared at Hinata for a second, then at the medical cream, then to Naruto, and then a smile formed on her face at a realization. "Ah! I get it… so that's it… how sweet…" Sakura stated out loud to herself, starting to make Hinata blush. "Sure… I'll give Naruto the cream… however, when he wakes up, I'm going to have to tell him who it's from. Don't want to take credit where credit is due…" Sakura stated with a wink toward Hinata… causing the flustered girl to blush even more. "Aw… you're blushing… so cute…" Sakura finished with a Cheshire smile followed by her ruffling Hinata's hair, and soon followed after her Sensei, a near skip in her step at this new revelation. She then called back to Hinata for a finish statement, her voice more serious in tone. "Just keep in mind… he's a nice guy… a diamond in the rough. People will start to notice him… including me eventually… and he won't be single for long… especially as he gets older… try and make your move before you lose this great catch to someone less appreciative or deserving of him!" She finished with a sing song voice, near twirling about as she did so.

Hinata was slightly bewildered by Sakura's attitude, never remembering her to be so… bubbly. She then thought about what Sakura had said, and she knew that what Sakura said was true. However, Hinata still couldn't bring herself to tell him her feelings yet, due to the fact she was still insecure. Only time would tell if she'd ever open her heart to him. She just hoped it would be sooner more than later, and before his heart ends up belonging to another, or worse, Sakura actually went through with her threat.

Kakashi carried the young Naruto up the stairs, his mind thinking on the events that just unfolded. 'I don't know what this power is… or what it could mean… but I have a feeling that something is going on… and I am going to make sure this power, whatever it is or its origin, will not bring any harm to any of my students…' Kakashi thought.

**To be continued…**

**On the next Naruto's Wrath:**

A great mind trapped within a prison of lacked motivation. What can the mind truly accomplish when push comes to shove, and the greatest weapon one has is their own line of thinking? Can a strategic mind overcome one's own flaws and weakness, and bring about an unseen victory, even from certain despair?

**Next time: The Slothful Genius**

* * *

><p><strong>Gohma Index:<strong>

**Gohma Howler:** Small Gohma that run rampant throughout the land. They resemble monkeys, and commonly appear in packs. Each pack is made up of a primary Howler and lesser Howlers.

**Height (At full Height):**

Lesser Howler: Approx. 2m  
>Primary Howler: Approx. 2.5m<p>

**Width:**

Lesser Howler: Approx. 2m

Primary Howler: Approx. 2.5m

**Impurity Level: 32**

**Alright… first off… for those who don't know… Toonami is coming back! On May 26****th****! On adultswim! So for those of you who were fans of Toonami, and weep from its death, weep no more, for it is back baby! With even the original voice actor of Tom…**

**Second… as you can see, Sakura has the power vanity… which is pretty much Sergei's Mantra affinity… now, as you all know, we haven't had a chance to really see Sergei in action other than an interlude that just showed him tearing Gohma to shreds… In other words, I could use some advice for what Sakura should be capable of with Vanity Mantra… please, because I really am stumped for this one… **

**time for some challenge concepts.**

* * *

><p><strong>1<strong>**st**** challenge…**

**Challenge Title: **Asura vs the World

**X-over: **Misc. /Asura's Wrath

**Summary: **Asura always has to fight someone or something… demigods, impure Gohma, gods, etc… now it is your turn to decide who should face Asura next, and revolve a story around it!

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **My best suggestions… try God of War vs. Asura's Wrath, or some kind of situation where Asura has to face beings of godly power and might, or something of that sort… you decide. Just make sure the beat down is entertaining to both you and the audience…

**2****nd**** challenge…**

**Challenge Title: **The Great Journey of Augus

**X-over: **Misc./Asura's Wrath

**Summary: **After death, Augus' spirit, while sated, still desired for more combat… his soul, pushing his way through Naraka and dimensions, has crossed the borders into a new world, where he will take on a new apprentice all for the purpose of one day battling this potential warrior.

**Plot Suggestions (optional): **Basically, Augus in another world or story, raising a character, whether main or side, to his level of strength and power.

**Well… there you go… hope this all was good… give a review if you liked it.**

**Signed,**

**Mr. Nobody**


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